Movie actors and actresses choose their roles for any number of reasons. Some are starving artists who just need the work and will take anything thrown their way, while some who've already made it simply want to cash in on their name and fame. Others, however, look for parts that inspire them, whether that's in what the character represents or the effort it might take for the performer to portray them accurately on the screen.
Not surprisingly, characters who face emotional, physical and/or mental challenges and difficulties are often the favorite of said performers, although for reasons too lengthy for this review, it seems actors tackle the latter far more often than actresses.
Yet, as Robert Downey Jr.'s character advised Ben Stiller's in "Tropic Thunder" (about the latter playing a "Forrest Gump" sort of persona in a previous film), it's best not to "go full retard" lest one run the risk of making the audience -- and those who hand out awards -- too uncomfortable. The offensive comment was meant to shock and elicit laughs, but it was pretty much spot-on in that many viewers need a fun, interesting or "normal" attribute in such characters with which they can identify.
Coincidentally or not, Hugh Dancy follows that advice in playing the title character in "Adam," a decent but pretty much forgettable little dramedy about a 29-year-old man who has Asperger's Syndrome. If that condition doesn't strike a bell, it's a form of autism marked most by the individual's difficulties with social interaction and some aspects of communication.
I don't personally know anyone who's been professionally diagnosed with that (although I know and have known a few people who likely had some form of it), but from what I've read about the condition, Dancy pretty much nails the characteristics without any sort of showy theatrics or sometimes common Oscar baiting tactics.
Instead, he creates a real character that many viewers can and will identify with as most people have experienced some degree or another of social awkwardness themselves and/or may just enjoy someone who's a straight shooter in terms of saying exactly what he means.
Writer/director Max Mayer reportedly came up with the idea for this film after hearing a man with Asperger's Syndrome doing a radio interview, and then built a fictional story about what would happen if his title character met and fell for a woman (nicely played by Rose Byrne).
While the pic follows the standard trajectory of a boy meets girl love story (with the usual trappings of the ups and downs of a new relationship as mixed with the challenges presented by the syndrome), its theme is all about communication, direct and indirect, spoken and that which is kept quiet, and even the non-verbal type.
Beyond that related to the relationship and Adam immediately saying what's on his mind without any sort of filter, there's a subplot featuring Beth's parents (Peter Gallagher and Amy Irving) and related allegations of secrets and wrongdoings on the dad's part. There are even smaller metaphors, such as Adam working on a talking toy, but not understanding his boss' verbal directive of what sort of product he really wants, as well as his description to Beth about the big bang theory and that the night sky will eventually be dark due to everything progressively moving away from others of their celestial kind.
Thankfully, Mayer restrains from hitting the viewer over the head too hard with that, which also holds true for his direction of Dancy in the lead part. The actor smartly creates a sympathetic character who the audience ends up caring for, and in doing so could just find himself rewarded come award nomination time. Like that performance, the film is never showy and thus comes off as an agreeable and enjoyable enough diversion.
Yet, while its slow and, for the most part, gentle nature will be embraced by some viewers, the pic never escapes the feeling that it easily could have premiered on some cable channel and thus disappeared into a bevy of other films of its ilk, rather than deserve the big screen treatment. Decent but nothing more (notwithstanding Dancy's work), "Adam" rates as a 5.5 out of 10.
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