Marshall and the Movies

It really is a treat when movies like “Adam” come along.  It is a movie that tugs, rather yanks, on your heartstrings and never lets go.  It is, to quote my friend, “overflowing with cuteness.”  This is due mainly in part to the poignant and touching performance from Hugh Dancy as the titular character who is stricken with Asperger’s syndrome.  With every line, the emotional connection he forges with the audience deepens until it gets to a point where he just slaps a big smile on your face that won’t soon go away.

After the death of his father, Adam (Dancy) is thrust into self-sufficiency and loneliness, left with some frozen macaroni-and-cheese and astronomy charts for solace.  But when an attractive woman moves into an apartment upstairs, things begin to change for him.  Beth (Rose Byrne) gradually falls head over heels for Adam’s charm and begins to introduce him to a world that to him seems farther away than the most distant planets and stars – the one that lies just outside of his door.  With the best of intentions, she thrusts him into situations that require him to read people’s emotions, a skill which is severely inhibited by Asperger’s.  Beth loves Adam, but she misguidedly equates this sentiment to caring for a small child, taking a similar approach to him as she does to the young students she teaches.  And as Adam begins to develop a more acute sense of emotions through the relationship, this tactic can only lead to trouble.

Playing someone afflicted with a condition like Adam is like walking a very thin tightrope, and Dancy walks across with poise and finesse.  Never for a second did I doubt the sincerity of the performance.  Byrne is also absorbing as Beth, but at some points, she came off as a little too whiny and it got a little bit under my skin.  But the star of the movie is undeniably Dancy, if I haven’t made myself blatantly clear already.

“Adam” was the first movie I saw after watching “The Graduate,” which has already had a significant impact on how I watch movies.  I need more time to fully absorb what I saw before I can write a full post on it, but the main lesson I took from “The Graduate” is that when the camera is in the hands of a skilled director, every shot and scene has a purpose.  In “Adam,” I noticed the symbolism in a scene that I normally would have dismissed as a filler and why they bothered to make Adam so obsessed with the stars.  But not every movie is like this, and I commend writer/director Max Mayer for making every second of the movie shine with radiant brilliance.

Despite everything else that I have raved about for five paragraphs, none of the aforementioned achievements is what makes “Adam” so special.  It is absolutely sensational how wide of a grin spreads across your face while watching it and how happy it makes you feels upon exiting.  The movie infects you with a giddy euphoria, a sensation which will linger like a welcome houseguest for days.  And for me personally, the movie inspired me to be more caring and patient with people who don’t necessarily have Asperger’s syndrome, but are maybe a little reluctant to come out of their shell.  “Adam” is a miraculous achievement in film, a sentimental and jubilant cinematic love story.  A /