User reviews

About Adam received new life after Kate Hudson became almost famous. But while Hudson plays a key role this film is, quite literally, about Adam, as played wonderfully by Stuart Townsend. The film begins with young Irish singing waitress Lucy, as played by Hudson with an Irish accent that comes and goes, meeting the mysterious Adam. She immediately falls for him and their new romance proceeds happily along. Lucy brings Adam home to meet the family and here things get turned on their head. After seeing the story play out from Lucy's perspective we go back and revisit the same time period from different points of view, those of Lucy's two sisters and brother. It soon becomes apparent that Adam is not quite what he seems and that he has become much closer to Lucy's family than she would ever believe.

Frances O'Connor as the quiet, bookish Laura and Charlotte Bradley as the unhappily married Alice will each strike up their own serious relationship with Adam. As we see each of the sisters' stories unfold it puts a new spin on all that we have seen before. Even Lucy's brother finds himself oddly attracted to Adam while Lucy floats along completely oblivious to all that is swirling around her. Each of the key roles is performed well and enough time is given to allow us to explore the motivations of each of these characters. If we didn't really get to know these people and what drives them, everyone involved could come off rather badly, especially Townsend's Adam. But the director makes each character sympathetic enough and it all ties together very well.

A clever script, mostly terrific acting, intriguing characters, wonderful Irish scenery and a very smart plot device that adds a unique twist to everything...About Adam has a lot going for it. It's a smart, funny, enjoyable ride.

'About Adam' is a male counterpart to Gerry Stembridge's classic TV drama, 'the Truth about Clare', his innovative film about Ireland and abortion. In that film, three characters tried to grope, through memories, prejudices, egotism, blindness etc., the truth about the title character, a pregnant woman who died following an abortion in England (it is still illegal in Ireland); here, four characters try to capture the essence of the elusive Adam, a jack of all relationships but mastered by none.

A knowledge of Stembridge's previous, more sober film gives this breezy comedy a darker edge - its tale of a family being given everything they sexually desire is an appropriate metaphor for a society like Ireland currently going through an unheard-of economic boom, creating a culture of extreme self-interest. The dangers of this self-interest are plain to see - a few weeks ago another Stembridge TV satire was aired about Ireland's racist treatment of refugees.

We have never had this much prosperity before, and we don't want anyone else sharing it. Similarly, the last person this film is 'about' is Adam. Like 'Clare', the film is structured around the personal narratives of each character involved with Adam - Lucy (Kate Hudson, and, I'm afraid, the hype for once is spot-on - she IS adorable), the spontaneous, singing waitress with a new boyfriend every week, who finally settles down to a 'great passion'; Laura (Frances O'Conner - can there be any doubt now that she is our finest actress?), the pretentious, uptight English post-grad doing a thesis on repressed Victorian women writers who is 'loosened up' by Adam, her assumptions revealed to be a lie; David, the brother, dating a prim virgin, enlisting Adam's help and finding himself sexually attracted to him; Alice, the elder sister, trapped in a prosperous marriage to a pompous dullard, intrigued by Adam, but unwilling to lose control like her siblings that easy.

Each narrative is tailored to each witness' personality (like 'Dracula', an ironic allusion throughout), in the way each story is shaped; in the stylistic devices employed; in tone; but, most importantly, in the perception of Adam. 'Clare', for all its excellence, played to that age-old myth, the mystery, inscrutability, unattainability, unknowability of woman. 'Adam', the first man, remorselessly documented throughout thousands of years of masculine culture, is suddenly the mystery, the woman, the sphinx, the passive black hole.

Adam (which may not even be his name) is the blank onto which the various characters project their fantasies - he is literally what they want him to be. Naturally, plot points overlap within the four stories, and our interpretation of them changes with greater knowledge, but, paradoxically, our knowledge of Adam diminishes, helped by the lies and stories he spins about himself. Who is Adam? Besides the obvious pleasure of bedding three beautiful women, why does he do it? In fact, forget that 'besides', that's probably your answer.

As well as alluding to his own work, Stembridge cleverly remodels two other classics of sexual amorphousness. Like Terence Stamp in Pasolini's 'Theorem', Adam is a stranger who enters a bourgeois household where everyone has a stereotypical role they adhere to, and which Adam smashes, forcing them to review their lives and the assumptions they live by. This has a liberating effect, but also a joyful one - this is a remarkably angst-free film. With his blank good looks, his white suit, and bleached blonde crop, Stuart Townsend (hi Celia!) is a ringer for the young Stamp.

The other allusion is to 'Alfie', that freewheelingly amoral sexual cad, lying his way through a score of beautiful women. Except Adam is the anti-Alfie, he does not humiliate or diminish women, they're the ones who develop; and he lacks the controlling power of narration; but he does limit them, reducing them to 'mere' sexual urge.

Significantly, both these films were key artefacts of the 1960s, and there is an optimism, a freshness, a vigour, a lightness to 'About Adam' that resembles the swinging 60s, as if Ireland, belatedly, has entered its own hedonistic decade. Both films, equally significantly, were warnings or analyses of that decade's fatal complacency, and in the exhilerating shots of Dublin that dot the film we cannot fail to notice the looming cranes, the building activity that suggests this story isn't quite finished, this culture hasn't quite reached maturity.

On the face of it, it seems a little much that a no doubt sexy guy will attract females like a magnet including three sisters, one of their brother's girlfriend - and the brother - but it could well happen I guess. That in essence is roughly the plot, so if that appeals you'll probably like the film - it's reasonably well cast, adequately acted, nicely filmed and moves along at a fast pace. But if that plotline sounds too superficial, you can't stand seeing an E-type jaguar painted pale blue and aren't overly excited by Dublin as a setting, then you'll probably find it a bit ho hum. The promise of lots of appealing sex scenes will also be disappointing - certainly there is some action in that department but filmed very prudishly. However, Irish films are a rarity so that may be enough in itself to tempt a viewing.

"About Adam" is a cheerful pentangle, helped along by a charming young cast, unpredictable quirkiness and Irish blarney.

Kate Hudson, in what was her first film role, shows off her Mom's smile to good effect.

Frances O'Connor is atypically frenzied. And so on.

All inspired by a lovable, enigmatic rogue whose sensuality turns on at least three sisters and a brother.

The song choices are surprisingly conservative traditional pop, culminating effectively in Peggy Lee.

(originally written 6/15/2001)

I did not even know the tag-line to the film About Adam (or All About Adam) but my first thought after I saw it was "He came, He saw, He conquered...them all." And it is almost identical with the film tag-line "He came. He saw. He conquered. One sister at a time." Gerard Stembridge's film belongs to the long suffered and rarely done well genre of romantic comedy or so called chick flick but this movie was a nice surprise. It has a twist to it, is amusing, enjoyable and funny, at least up until the very final. In the end, the writer/director seemed to have lost an interest of simply did not know what to do with his main character who could've been a lighter version or a younger brother to Pasolini's mysterious visitor in Theorem or, if asked Who are you, he could've answered, Just your average, horny little devil, not unlike Mr. Darryl van Horn. Yes, About Adam may not use any original ideas and it brings to mind immediately the movies as different as Theorem; Sliding Doors; He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not; the Spanish Oscar winner for the Best Foreign movie, Bell Époque, The Witches of Eastwick, and more than one Woody Allen's dramedies, Hannah and Her Sisters, particularly. The story of a charming mysterious man who makes every member of one family fall hard for him simply by being there and expressing the interest to each person's problems, troubles, and needs has been told many times but I personally was amused and smiled more than once while watching this little comedy and I found it if not a bright lost gem but a nice way to spend an hour and half following the adventures of a nice guy , every girl's dream come true who could make women happy because he knew exactly what each of them wanted, needed, longed for, lacked in her life, and dreamed about. I found especially funny always changing and adjusted for a particular listener the story of the powerful sexy mysterious collectible Jaguar, the perfect car for a sexy, mysterious, perfect man. Cinematically, the movie that takes place in Dublin is very pleasant, and I did not mind the repeating narrative that helped to look at the same scenes from very different perspectives and unexpected points of view. The young and talented actors and actresses including pre-Almost Famous very cute and singing Kate Hudson, Frances O'Connor and Charlotte Bradley as her older sisters, and Stuart Townsend as irresistible Adam all made their characters likable which is important for this type of film.

A lot has changed in Ireland in the last twenty years, and there's little of the old Oirishry on display in this film, which is set instead against a backdrop of posh department stores and stylish cafés. A glib, celebratory tone underpins what commences as a run-of-the-mill romcom, before the plot starts to venture into more unorthodox territory. But the film never really dares to take sides, and a weak conclusion suggests that all the tastier material should be reconsidered just as part of the froth. The result is an odd film, with all the flaws of a feel-good movie, but which doesn't actually make you feel good in the end.

In some ways this is an incredibly refreshing film. In it's acceptance that lust and promiscuity are normal facts of life and not something that lead to a lifetime of suffering and possibly eternal damnation, it's almost unique in Irish cinematic history. Seeing a film so free from the historical and religious baggage that shackles most Irish films can also be a bit disconcerting, like seeing one of the nuns that taught you in school wearing a mini-skirt and fishnet tights.

Set far from the traditional Irish mise-en-scene in Dublin's trendy Temple Bar area, it features Stuart Townsend as a benign Irish cousin to Jack Nicholson in _The Witches of Eastwick_, who plays on the desires of three beautiful sisters for his own ends. Far from being a scheming Casanova, he's a likeable character who does nothing more than tell a few tall tales to aid his seductive techniques, and who helps people come to terms with themselves rather than cosign them to a life of guilt by doing so.

This film is like Stembridges earlier film, Guiltrip, turned inside out. It's bright, urban-based, modern, and shows signs that Ireland is finally developing a mature attitude to Sexuality.

This movie could be summed up as an Irish "Alfie". I thought it was a funny, romantic film that delivered a few plot twists that kept the movie entertaining.

Expertly cast, Stuart Townsend keeps all of the girls in the film "ooo'ing and awwww'ing". Kate Hudson played a seemingly naive and always lovable character and bride-to-be. Frances O'Connor, Kate's sister was also brilliant in her portrayal of the lustful sister that you couldn't help, but enjoy.

Is it worth a rental??? Sure! Could you drag your boyfriend to this and have him not fall asleep??? Definitely!

While I didn't find this movie to have a great deal of comedic value, the trouble the characters get themselves into and layers of deception between each other making this chick flick interesting and worth a viewing.

The reason I say that is because I like the way they give different perspectives of several different scenes as seen by the different characters in the movie. I really like Stewart Townsend (he's one of those adorable people that are charismatic not to mention easy on the eyes). This is definitely NOT a cinematic masterpiece but I don't think it was meant to be either. It was entertaining and THAT's what I liked about it. Well, that and Stewart Townsend but I think I already mentioned that. Didn't sound like many people liked this one but I have to disagree. It's fun, sexy, flirtatious,and comedic all in one movie. Give it a chance and watch it again or for the first time, whichever the case may be.

I might have been able to enjoy this movie more if there was (a) more character development of Adam's actual fiance (b) there were actually consequences to Adam's actions (c) more character development of Adam and (d) a point. Alas, there was not.

The idea itself, a cad who is out to seduce an entire family is an interesting story point. However, it was not handled with any deft or depth. We don't know why he does it, and in fact we are supposed to like a guy who brings such joy to this immoral family with his seduction and lies. We have virtually no idea why Lucy chose any of the men before or why she chooses him, especially since she cheats on him before the wedding with a sad sack of an ex; apparently to bring parity to the pathetic lie of a marriage they enter into at the end. There are also no consequences for the duplicity - which also could be fun and interesting, but in this movie it's not.

I'm just surprised he didn't seduce the mother. Or did he?

Lucy (Kate Hudson, with a pretty good accent) is the youngest of three sisters in London. She and her slightly older sister, Laura (Frances O'Connor) still live at home with their mother, due to monetary circumstances. Lucy is a singing waitress at a cafe and Laura is a graduate student at the university. As it so often happens, the two younger sisters are complete opposites. Lucy is a beautiful and outgoing gal who has been through a ton of boyfriends while Laura is shy and saving herself for a truly great romance. One day, a new, handsome man, Adam (Stuart Townsend) enters the cafe where Lucy works. She is smitten and invites him out on a date. He accepts. Soon they are quite close and thinking about their future together. Yet, one day Laura meets Adam when she is out and about and they find they, too, have a strong mutual attraction. If they follow their impulses, what will be the consequences? This is an appealing romcom, mostly due to the very good-looking performers, but it has a bizarre plot that challenges the normal boundaries of a successful love story. Without giving too much away, the film could easily have been called Adam and the Three Sisters. As such, the boy meets girl concept here becomes more boy meets girl, girl, girl, with surprising results. Then, too, although the costumes are wonderful (Hudson has never looked lovelier) and the settings quite nice, the actors have a thick British accent that is sometimes difficult to follow. Therefore, while the production values are of the highest standards, making the film look great, beware romcom fans. If your idea of a successful, comedic love tale insists upon a man having only one true love, this may not be the film for you. Even so, most romance fans are eager to find a new watch and will probably accept this one as an interesting diversion for an evening.

I guess from my reaction to many a romantic comedy, some may think I'm male. Actually I'm a heterosexual female who enjoys ORIGINAL romantic comedy, but I also have half a brain and expect some degree of intelligence from films.

The Laura character summed this film up pretty thoroughly for me. She is an English actor, meaning that two of the main characters, including of course THE main female lead, were not Irish. I can't be bothered repeating why this is extremely sad - it's been said so many times - but the marketing machine behind most movies will not change it's mind about shoving Americans (or Brits) into the leads in "foreign" films, no matter how much people complain. They want the bucks, you know, and a famous names DOES mean more bums on seats. Sad but true.

I found this film uninspired. There were perhaps 2 or 3 genuinely amusing and surprising lines. The characters were pretty much laughable, in a bad way. Adam's justification for his machiavellian behaviour I found ridiculous and unconvincing. This guy is not altruistic - that much should have been patently obvious to anyone with a brain half the size of an ant's b**ls.

I hung on to the end. Lord knows why as I tend to advise: if you don't like a movie, turn it off. Maybe I'm feeling rather masochistic today or maybe I kept hoping something was going to happen to make it worth my while. It didn't.

That said, if you don't care about intelligent scripts or whether a movie rehashes themes/styles/plots that have been done better elsewhere many a time and if you like fluffy, pointless romantic comedy no matter what, then watch and enjoy! 4/10

God, Kate Hudson has the worst Irish accent! Stuart is the only one, I know because he is from Ireland, with a real Irish accent. The accents just kept switching back and forth. First it was British and then it was Irish, yadda, yadda, yadda.

"About Adam" is a cute romantic comedy though. I have to admit it stole my heart for a few seconds. The story is a little odd and sometimes painful to watch, I admit. But if you give it a chance, it isn't so bad. I would give the green light for "About Adam". Especially if you love Stuart Townsend. *drool* Get me a towel! Sorry, sorry. So, if you have some time on your hands, check it out. It's a decent movie.

7/10

This film promised a bit more than it delivered. I never laughed out loud and didn't find it particularly witty. The character, Adam, is intriguing, but in the end, he remains a cipher, lacking any depth or even comedic exploration of character. Perhaps I'm picky, but I also prefer movies that employ actors from the character's country. For instance, hearing Kate Hudson's unsuccessful accent attempts threw me right out of the movie several times. The real jewel of this film is the all-too-brief performance of Charlotte Bradley. That she portrayed nuances in character in this otherwise fluff of a film is remarkable.

It's very seldom that these words are all used together in describing a film but that's the sort of film `About Adam' is.

Adam is the ultra seductive boy who becomes involved with the `pretty sister' only to flirt with and ultimately seduce the other two as well. At one point he even has their entirely straight brother becoming aroused.

This is not a great film but as romantic comedies go it's worth the time and it is very seldom that a film with this type of plot elements ends as happily as this one does.

I plodded toward the multiplex against my will, my girlfriend dragging me along as we went. '...but whyyy???' I moaned. 'Shut up with ya, we're going to see it, ya big ejit!' my girlfriend snapped. My reluctance to see 'About Adam' was based on previous experiences of experiencing Irish-made films, they were all the same - poor little, thatched cottage family living in repressed little ol' Ireland in the midst of poverty - boring! However, I actually really enjoyed 'About Adam' - with proper distribution and promotion - this could be a huge hit across Europe and the USA. 'About Adam', for a thankful change, shows Ireland how it really is - modern, stylish and prosperous. The people in the film aren't weeping throughout the entire film because their potato patch is unproductive, they are just like ordinary, modern Irish people - well, we don't all go sh**ging our fiance's entire family - but other than that it's real. The film is very witty and entertaining, if only a little slow at some parts. Kate Hudson has a surprisingly good Irish accent and Stuart Townsend is a well-cast star with a bright film throughout the film industry, here and abroad. 'About Adam' is a very positive and encouraging leap forward for the Irish film industry and is an example of how more Irish films should be made in the future - we're sick of dwelling in the past - it's the positive present and bright future people want to see. 'About Adam' bears more of a resemblance to 'American Pie' and 'Road Trip' than to 'The Field' and other such films. All in all, a good show. I encourage all, European, American, Australian etc, to see this film - not just because I'm Irish, but because it is a genuinely enjoyable, funny movie.

This film had potential, but lost its way as the silly script got worse and worse as Adam began to seduce more and more members of the same family.

Compare this with Stuart Townsend's impressive big time debut in Shooting Fish and he has gone downhill.

The supporting cast were competent - Hudson was very good - but this story went too far and became a parody of itself.

Not bad, but not great either.