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)

As someone who actually does suffer from Asperger's Syndrome, it is easier for me than it might be for some people to understand and relate to many of the things that Adam says and does. I have been apprehensive in the past about viewing films that deal with this sort of subject, as I have learned that many of them paint stereotypical, unrealistic, and occasionally belittling portraits of people in my place or other similar situations. I was pleasantly surprised upon viewing this, as it really hit home in many ways. I often found myself saying "this reminds me of me" when watching Adam live his life from day to day (though we are very dissimilar in that I would never have a tantrum in front of a girl). Finally, this is quite possibly the most down to earth movie of its kind, as there is nothing that happens in it that cannot or is overly unlikely to happen in real life. Unfortunately, I cannot give it a perfect rating, because as impressive as its portrayal of Asperger's syndrome is, the story itself is weak and uninspiring and not as compelling and heart-wrenching as it ought to be.

Having a son-in-law that has Aspergers symptoms, I found the movie to be quite realistic in a non-Hollywood way. It didn't stoop to many of the clichés that several movies trying to tackle this subject fell into.

The lead actor did a great job portraying the attitude and personality of someone with Aspergers. His portrayal was quite well done, and accurate to real life situations He obviously did his homework when researching the character and the side effects of Aspergers syndrome.

Unfortunately, I found the lead female character (and the script components related to this character) to be less than believable. My personal opinion is that people with Aspergers syndrome tend to have a lack of empathy for other people (as portrayed in this movie), so it requires someone with extra empathy and forgiveness to be able to understand and relate to them (unless of course the partner has Aspergers themselves, which helps them understand and relate to the other person).

She didn't portray herself as an overly empathetic person, especially when dealing with her father's problems. Most children would be empathetic to their own parents first and foremost. She seemed to be forgiving of the lead characters flaws, but didn't really show a lot of emotion during the tense situations and unusual circumstances that cropped up.

Other than that, I thought it was a very good movie touching on this subject. If it weren't for the weak script and the issues with the lead female characterization, I would have given it a 10.

Greetings again from the darkness. The first feature film from writer/director Max Mayer is terrific! It is what makes indie films such a treasure ... a small, little personal story that packs a wallop.

Many will remember Hugh Dancy from King Arthur and Jane Austen Book Club. In both, he was eye candy for the girls. Here he stretches his acting chops as Adam, who lives with Asperger's Syndrome. At first, he just strikes us as a guy with no real social skills. It's not until he meets his new neighbor (Rose Byrne) that we begin to understand why he's just not quite right.

Watching their relationship grown in a believable way is a tribute to both actors and a very solid script. A few sub-plots are juggled: death of a parent, living alone, loss of a job, etc, but the key to the film is the relationship and how it keys in our need to connect.

This is the type of film I wish more people would get a chance to see. It has so much more to offer than the over-hyped Hollywood junk that gets forced down our throats at the local megaplex. Adam won't crack the $200 million gross, but Adam will have an impact on you and create some interesting after-film discussion. Isn't that the real fun of movies anyway?

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.