A look at the upcoming Fox Searchlight film “Adam”

By John C.

I’ve been thinking quite a lot lately about the new film Adam, which opens July 29th. If you haven’t already watched the trailer, you can get the link here. The story is centered around a young man with Aspergers syndrome, which is a high functioning form of autism. You can learn more about it at the links section I am including at the bottom of this post. Aspergers syndrome has been the subject of many movies, including the 2006 film Mozart and the Whale. Adam seems different, and will probably reach a wider audience, mainly because of it’s distributor, Fox Searchlight. They know how to market a film and get the word out there. To put it into perspective, last summer Warner Independent Pictures wanted to send Slumdog Millionaire straight to DVD. Fox Searchlight picks it up, and it wins Best Picture.

Adam is first and foremost a love story. It follows the story of Adam (Hugh Dancy), a young man with Aspergers. After his father dies, he is left all alone in the apartment they shared. When a new girl, Beth (Rose Byrne), moves into his apartment complex, he falls in love. I have not yet seen the film, but from the trailer it looks like it will be very sweet and charming, and a true to life depiction of someone with Aspergers syndrome.

Director Max Mayer got the idea for the film after hearing a story on the radio about someone living with Aspergers. Adam is a romantic-comedy-drama, with a touch of quirkiness. It’s also a breath of fresh air for the romantic-comedy genre, because most “rom-coms” aren’t very original. I don't think I'm the only one tired of seeing the lives of the neurotypically, romantically inclined, being the only ones shown in movies, as was the case with the overlong and boring He’s Just Not That Into You.

Adam is not just a story about a man with Aspergers, it’s a love story where the main character happens to have Aspergers. More appropriately, as the films tagline reads “It’s the story of two strangers, one a little stranger than the other”.

You can learn more about Aspergers and autism at these links:

http://www.autism.net/

http://www.autismontario.com/

http://www.aspergers.ca/

You can learn more about the movie Adam here:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1185836/

http://www.foxsearchlight.com/adam/

And you can learn more about Mozart and the Whale Here:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0392465/