Adam **** (2009, Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Peter Gallagher, Amy Irving, Frankie Faison) – Classic Movie Review 4631

Hugh’s a pretty boy then? Stoke-on-Trent actor Hugh Dancy’s sweet kind of good looks have set him on the profitable path of Hollywood romances and romcoms like Ella Enchanted, The Jane Austen Book Club and Confessions of a Shopaholic.

Usually he is giving loyal back-up to a female star, but this time he steps into the main spotlight as Adam, a handsome but apparently socially awkward young American. It turns out he suffers from a mildly autistic disorder called Asperger’s syndrome, affecting his social reactions. Adam’s devastated and desperately isolated and alone when he is left to live alone in his New York apartment after his beloved dad dies.

Along comes his nice new upstairs neighbour, brainy, beautiful but damaged teacher Beth (Rose Byrne), and Adam falls for her obsessively, though their road to a relationship’s a very rocky one. When he tells her he has Asperger’s, she tries to understand his condition and help him.

But then he loses his computer job and she loses her cheating father (Peter Gallagher) to prison. Things get more and more difficult, and Beth has to face the question of whether she has taken on too great a challenge.

Writer-director Max Mayer’s expertly shot, five-hankie 2009 weepie is beautifully written, and comes complete with a heart-rending ending. Submerging himself totally in his character, Dancy is superb, while Byrne is excellent, sharing the right chemistry. In an all-round excellent cast, Amy Irving and Frankie Faison are good, too, as Byrne’s mom and Dancy’s one pal.

There are said to be lots of hard-hearted, cynical folks in the world. If so, they had better stay well clear. But for anyone with a soft, warm heart, this is an adorable wallow.

It is rated PG-13 for thematic material, sexual content and strong language.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4631

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