Adam Review

Adam is a small budget drama/indie-romance about a man with Asperger’s (Adam, played by Hugh Dancey) and a woman (Beth, Rose Byrne) who moves into his apartment building. I went into this film expecting a light, sentimental, mildly satisfying feature and left having seen something more substantial, if a still little slight.

The film follows the relationship of Adam and Beth as they get to know each other better with her finding out about his disability and what it entails. Roadblocks in the way of the couple’s true happiness include Beth’s father’s misgivings, Adam’s struggle to find a job and the difficulties intrinsic to Adam’s Asperger’s Syndrome.

The film has been a huge success both in the US and internationally, having already out earned its miniscule budget several times over. All of the actors are fantastic in their roles. The subtleties portrayed by Dancey and Byrne are enjoyable to watch. Rose Byrne is just enjoyable to watch full stop. A cynic could point out that playing a character with a mental disorder is a guaranteed Oscar nomination, so Dancey’s decision to play Adam is a good career move. However, his subtle and convincing portrayal of an Asperger’s sufferer lacks the hackneyed tear-jerking bullshit of blatant Oscar grabs of the past. There is no I Am Sam, Sean Penn over-sentimentality here.

The film’s lack of sentimentality is both its strength and its weakness. There is a sweetness to the film’s central relationship that is palpable and enjoyable. Max Meyer’s simplistic, artful direction allows this sweetness to flourish. However, the film lacks an overarching emotionality. This isn’t to say that it is heartless, or that it lacks character or class, I just don’t think I was affected enough by it. There is a detachment inherent to the films presentation of Adam and Beth’s relationship that doesn’t give the audience full access to the emotions that the characters are experiencing. This detachment surely wasn’t an accident. It works to reflect Adam’s detachment from those around him, with his Asperger’s rendering it impossible for him to know what other people are thinking or feeling.

The film makes good decisions in terms of plot and character development, but somehow it doesn’t add up to a completely satisfying whole. I really enjoyed it, but I wanted to enjoy it more. I feel that in doing the characters justice and providing a real and informed portrayal of Asperger’s, Adam has somehow fallen short of packing a full emotional punch.

That being said, it deserves to be watched.

An Incredibly Late Review of Harry Potter

Harry Potter films have always been a struggle to watch. Being a massive fan of the books, I want the films to reflect my experience of them. This has never and will never happen. So in order to enjoy the movies I need to suppress this desire. I need to ignore my frame of reference. I think Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was for the first time able to accomplish this.


This does not mean that I have not enjoyed the previous Harry Potter movies. I think some of them are awesome, Prisoner of Azkaban being the obvious standout. But re-watching the other instalments made me realise something: the actual act of watching them is a lot of work.


This isn’t because the movies are overlong (they are, but whatever) or because the acting is bad (it is, but who gives a shit?). It’s because you can see the amount of effort that people have gone to just to fit the damn thing into a workable film. In the same way that watching someone vomit makes you want to be sick, or seeing someone get whacked in the nuts by his cricket bat-wielding toddler forces every man in the room to cover his crotch, Harry Potter films make us feel like we are on the job. With the exception of Azkaban, they all are chopped, changed, spun-around, molested and shoved into their running times with a desperation that is all too apparent.


Here is the word that perfectly describes why Half-Blood Prince is the best instalment to date: Effortlessness.


The reason that I was able to ignore my frame of reference and enjoy the film for what was is this: I never once noticed the work. The film had a flow to it that was so natural, so uncomplicated I was able to fully immerse myself in the story. I never found myself reeling at some plot-point or detail that was different from the book. It was only after it was over that I even realised a major climactic battle was completely removed, let alone some characters who play a huge part in the next instalment. And once I did realise I didn’t actually care. The film was better for having left them out. It would’ve been too much work to fit them in.


It was sad when it should have been sad, Light-hearted when it should have been light-hearted, and satisfying when the lights came up. I can wait with confidence that the final Potter will be made the right way, with less of an eye on keeping in all of the details from the book and more of one on crafting an enjoyable cinematic experience.


All Hail the Half-Blood Prince!