A voice-over by Rose Byrne’s Beth comparing Hugh Dancy’s Adam—a man with Asperger’s—to The Little Prince inspires dread that this is a saccharine 100-minute cliche about what mentally challenged folks can teach us, a la I am Sam and The House of D. However, Adam quickly recovers once the narrative unfolds and Beth and Adam meet, begin to date and fall in love. Why do filmmakers (and their producers) not trust the audience to figure out the themes of the film on their own or—heaven forbid!—think for themselves about what the film means? In Adam’s case, the opening voiceover doesn’t even best represent what the film’s about! Adam is best recommended, not as a heavy-handed metaphor, but as a thoughtful film about a challenging yet loving relationship.
This article appears in Sep 10-16, 2009.
