Adam

Somewhere above the clear skies of a disquieted New York skyline, some hundreds of billions of miles away there are stars and galaxies, clusters of light and unknowable beauty speeding away not only from us but from themselves. Eventually it will get to the point where all is inevitably lost, and the skies will be filled with an overwhelming black; nothingness and desolate loneliness for a heaven and a barren, sun-scorched planet for a home. "That's kind of… sad" says one character. "Sad?" repeats the nonplussed hobbyist-cosmologist before turning off his home-brew planetarium. Somewhere within one of these small gatherings of light lies New York itself, and in its central park dwell two harmless furry creatures known as Racoons. In the middle of a giant city, these little guys don't necessarily belong but they just happen to be there anyway—coming out at night and playing in their own peaceful isolation when the city closes one eye for the night. This somewhat romantic dualism of being torn apart from where you should be and ending up in world quite different from where you naturally belong is the glue that binds pages of Adam's story together. Brought into melancholic focus through characters, relationships, the nuances of ordinary life and a vast array of simplistic but nevertheless heart-warming sentiments through photography and music, Adam is a humbled and interesting take on love seen through the eyes of a fellow who—like those racoons—isn't quite where he ought to be.

A gifted an ostensibly neurotic figure, Adam (Hugh Dancy) is a smart, intelligent and insightful guy-next-door type who day-to-spotlessly-repetitive-day tries to overcome his disability in order to fit in with those he shares his city-life with. As is found out late into the first act of the feature, Adam is affected by Asperger's syndrome; a condition which often means that he cannot by any means tell what other people are thinking simply by reading their faces, body language or figurative words. Instead Adam relies on honesty and literal meaning; without this, he is lost, and to many this in turn makes him out to be a naïve child-like inconvenience. All this comes into play most dramatically however when a new neighbour, Beth (Rose Byrne), moves in above Adam's apartment. Unable to quite go about his attraction to Beth in conventional manners (at one point directly asking if she was "sexually excited… because I was."), romantic life it seems isn't about to blow any sympathy points in Adam's direction. After a series of quirky encounters involving Adam's love for space and a particularly intense sequence where he avoids going out with Beth out of fear, the relationship takes its turns and develops slowly but surely into an engaging piece of alternative romance. The result is an interesting look into a convoluted form of love from a different perspective that questions the sometimes trivial dos and don'ts of adult relationships when brought to Adam's plate.

In a way, the movie echoes recent features such as The Science of Sleep by Michel Gondry and last year's Lars and the Real Girl in that it pushes the "disability" of its lead character to be the central point of its narrative rather than fleeting romance. Sure enough, Adam is by no means a saint—he's simply different, and Mayer does well to always restate Adam's humanity despite his disability; this is no mawkish weepy or over-sentimental caricature painting. Like those features mentioned above however, Adam hits the proverbial nail on the head when it comes to dishing out moments of pathos anyway; there's light-hearted, whimsy comedy here; genuine, well-developed characterisation; and romance with drama that feels slightly romanticised but not at the extent of its characters and themes. Indeed, it's not hard to imagine audiences being more than slightly moved by Adam and Beth's somewhat troubled circumstances and this is much to the film's credit in that it plays as a character-piece but feels like a traditional romantic drama without sacrificing the former's traits.

Of course with a feature such as this, it would be easy to pile on the sentiment too heavily resulting in a mawkish and tawdry handkerchief-fest steeped in melodrama but thankfully this is not the case. Instead, Adam is cemented in place with an extremely engaging performance by leading man Hugh Dancy offset with a warm, feminine portrayal by Byrne. The chemistry between the two is as palpable as director Mayer obviously intended, which is kind of refrained in between the back-and-forth nature of Adam and Beth's perceptions of each other. So while not falling for the traditional, formaliac techniques of your average romance, Meyer nevertheless crafts something genuine and real for his characters. At times their romance is sweet and whimsical, at others frantic and awkward—such is one of Adam's biggest strengths. This of course will disgruntle some audiences upon which the story's conclusion should bear no redeeming fruit, but for those looking for something a little different there nevertheless remains a certain bittersweet sense of integrity about the story that remains consistent right through to the end. It's by no means a perfect tale, no, but for what it's worth, there's undoubtedly a whole lot of interesting qualities to Adam's plight here that take on a life of their own in the truest sense of the phrase.

Heart-warming with a dry sense of humour always steeped in refrained melancholy, Adam is an impressive and oft moving tale brought to life with memorable performances and a bittersweet account of love and its entwined complexities.

• A review by Jamie Robert Ward (http://www.invocus.net)

So, I watched this movie with my autistic ex, before I knew I was autistic myself. My review is biased because I was trying the whole time to understand the motivations of the female character, Beth, and I found her to be completely incomprehensible. Fast forward a few years, and I realise it's because she's the Neurotypical in the relationship, so of course her motivations and actions are incomprehensible to me.

Adam's role was played fantastically, there were several points that moved me to tears. Particularly the scene where he hears Beth at the door, asking him to come out, but even though he wants to, he can't. It was a perfect prtrayal of social anxiety.

The only reason I don't rate it much higher is because it was also cringey in parts to watch and I found it uncomfortable. I don't like the feeling of watching people do socially awkward things and feel painful empathy on their behalf; it's like watching all of my social faux pas played out on screen. It's not a bad movie, I think objectively it was done very well, I just didn't personally like everything about it.

It is a decent portrayal of male autism. For an excellent portrayal of female autism watch Please Stand By, and for a perfect visual expression of pattern matching watch Temple Grandin, particularly the scenes with the wallpaper and the spoons.

There were, however, a few things about this movie that I feel were irresponsible on the part of the film makers.

The movie implies that it is too difficult for autistic people to have relationships. Yes, it's difficult in different ways than it would be for neurotypicals, but I don't like the way they choose to show that. I also just really didn't like how Beth insinuated herself in Adam's life for no apparent reason (that I could understand). I feel that for an autistic audience her motivations could have been explained somehow, because she was a bit baffling. I also worry that if this is the only movie anyone sees about autism, it gives a bit of an off perspective. The dialogue in the scenes with the racoons made me uncomfortable. We're not all that weird.

I do like that it showed an autistic who was able to work with correct accommodations in place, and when those were taken away he struggled. I liked that they showed how he was able to come up with creative solutions to problems, even though those were not the same ones an NT would have. I like that they showed him info-dumping at a party (when you talk at length about your special subject of interest because it's something you feel comfortable with because small-talk is too complicated to navigate) and his avoidance of eye contact.

I feel like I'm being mean to rate it so low, you know what I'll put it up to an 8. It is a really good film, like I said, I just don't like it. I hated Beth so I had no female protagonist to relate to and from memory (I saw it in about 2015 and don't intend to watch it again) I don't think it passes the Bechdel Test. Nah, you know what I'm leaving it at a 7.

That's my personal, subjective vote. I liked it better than Mary and Max, anyway.

Having seen "Adam" just last night, I can definitely say that it is one of the year's best and most touching romantic comedies.

"Adam" stars Hugh Dancy as a man living with Asperger's syndrome who does his best to reach out to his pretty new upstairs neighbor. Due to his condition, Adam isn't the best when it comes to communicating. Though he frequently escapes by submersing himself in the world of space exploration, Adam senses an opportunity for a real human connection after Beth (Rose Byrne) moves into the apartment just upstairs. As Adam attempts to gain control of his off-kilter, sometimes embarrassing social skills, he discovers that with a little patience and understanding, developing a meaningful relationship might not be as hard as he previously thought.

The story is definitely sounds like a different kind of romantic comedy, and that is what it is. It's very different. The relationship between Hugh Dancy and Rose Byrne is very genuine. It's very real. The struggles both go through in the film are very well portrayed. Hugh Dancy is wonderful. He had the tough challenge to portray someone who had Asperger's syndrome. His performance was so beautifully done. He was great. Rose Byrne was also brilliant. Her character is attracted to Dancy's character, and further along in the film, she realizes being in a relationship with someone who has Asperger's is definitely something that won't be easy. Byrne's character goes through a lot in the film, and tries to juggle everything with all normal expected human emotion that goes with it. Her character definitely learns a lot throughout the film. Byrne is amazing. Having never heard of Asperger's syndrome before, I walked in with no knowledge of it. The film handled it very well. That's all I can say. It left me with a new interest for Asperger's.

The film had its quirks, smiles, screams, laughs, and tears, but the final product of "Adam" is definitely something to be admired. I'm very glad I saw this film. I recommend this film for everyone. It's a changing film. It changed me. See it. 9/10

I've needed to see this movie ever since I heard about it's existence, unfortunately it was not given a proper release in the UK, so I had to wait for the US DVD to come out. It's a film about a relationship between a man with Asperger's Syndrome (Adam) and a young woman (Beth). As I have Asperger's Syndrome and I heard that this movie was well made I was understandably interested. I have tended in the past to find movies and TV shows portraying autism absurd. Fortunately this was not the case here.

The level of observation here was really very good, small things like how Adam doesn't look at people in the face, how he becomes agitated at work over comments that his boss makes that are meant to be humorous or confidence building (I am used to blank stares from my performance planner when I take things the wrong way).

At one point Adam trembles behind his bedroom door when he is being asked to come out to a social event from the other side, pretending he is not there. I've done that myself. He reminds me of me when I was at university. Food fads is another, Adam has Macaroni Cheese every night of the week. Currently I have a chicken Kiev with raw mushrooms and yellow peppers pretty much every night of the week.

Although he's very talented, he only managed to get the electrical engineering job he holds via his father convincing the boss to hire him. I was never able to convince anyone that I was worth hiring, even though I have a degree from Oxford. After several terrible years following university, I managed to get a job in an office where the head of the office was my brother-in-law. I can do the job well, and am even being promoted, getting in the door is the hard part. In the UK at least, employment rates for people with Asperger's Syndrome are upsettingly low. The idea of selling oneself in an interview doesn't work, and when you're up against people who will bend the truth to get ahead, it's really difficult. That's another good thing the film picked up on, honesty. If you're tired of guys lying to you ladies, pick up an Aspie.

I was personally moved a lot by the beginning of the movie and the end of the movie. There's an excellent introduction using the story of Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) by Saint-Exupéry as a metaphor. I knew at this point that it was going to be a good movie, it is perhaps the most tactful and tender approach to the subject that there could be. I won't spoil the ending of the movie, but from reading what other people have said, it's very easy to mistake what is happening, obliquely, I will recommend that you concentrate on an incident concerning boxes.

I'm a few years older than Adam, and readier than he is, but love has never come my way, as there are not many Beths out there, and being 6ft 7 tall and also stocky I am not exactly of the "non-threatening male" physique typified by Hugh Dancy in this movie. My way of boring people to death with over detail is film, and even though I know that people don't want to know I will still start telling them about the history of film starting in 1888 (or if I'm feeling more loquacious, starting with Muybridge). The stupidest cosmological one I do (like Adam), is explain how novae happen in binary systems with a red giant and white dwarf. More recently I have started telling people why Sirius flickers ;) People think I am trying to make them feel stupid or inferior, which is absolutely not the case, but I still do it even though I know this, I just can't stop myself.

As an autistic, I felt that this movie was extremely tender, but also very educational and instructive, I felt almost like I was a chick being feathered off a tree limb for the first flight. "Adam" does not aim at staggering mise-en-scene, it is not an Antonioni movie, but it is possibly the worthiest film you can see. The worst thing about Asperger's is that there are many people who will tell you, even straight to your face, that it doesn't exist, even a doctor I knew was pretty much of that opinion. People associate mental disability with physical impairment, and because there is none with Asperger's (except sometimes clumsiness, or "gangliness"), for a lot of people it just doesn't register, even though there are defined and recognisable developmental symptoms. This film, in a way, is an acknowledgement that it does exist, and is proof if ever I was cynical enough to believe otherwise, that films can change the world.

I've been meaning to watch Adam for quite some time now and the film matched my expectations. The good thing about small independent films is that the stories are usually very personal and rich. That's the case with Adam, a film with substance and meaning. The film begins with the 29 year old Adam attending his father funeral and then returning to a lonely empty house. Beth, a writer damaged from a past relationship moves into the building where Adam lives and soon they meet. Adam is handsome but he's also odd and awkward. He suffers from Asperger syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder that causes difficulties in social interaction, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. Despite this, Adam is very bright and Beth takes an interest in him. This leads to a relationship but, is it right? Are they fit for each other?... Adam is not so much a romantic comedy but more of a character study as it shows Adam and Beth learning and growing from each other and stepping into unfamiliar territory. Hugh Dancy is tremendous as the lead character Adam and his portrayal never appears as a caricature. Instead he relies on small gestures and certain facial expressions which results in a very moving and impressive performance. Rose Byrne was very good as Beth as well, although I wish her character had been better written. I say this because sometimes, she is extremely sensitive to Adam's condition but on a few occasions she almost seems to forget about it. Peter Gallagher, Rose Byrne and Amy Irving compose the supporting cast with Gallagher doing a terrific job (as usual) as Beth's father. Adam doesn't have the clichéd happy ending so usual in Hollywood, instead it presents us with an authentic and realistic conclusion that felt very satisfying. Adam is a breath of fresh air, it's a genuine film with a very moving and well written story.

8/10