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Adam

EMAILPRINTFox Searchlight Pictures

Adam reviews
59
6.2 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 13 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 5 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Comedy  |  Drama  |  Romance

Written by: Max Mayer

Directed by: Max Mayer

Release Date:
Theatrical: July 29, 2009

Running Time: 99 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: PG-13 for thematic material, sexual content and language

Starring Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Peter Gallagher, Amy Irving, and Frankie Faison

Romance can be risky, perplexing and filled with the perils of miscommunication - and that's if you aren't Adam, for whom life itself is this way. Adam is a handsome but intriguing young man who has all his life led a sheltered existence - until he meets his new neighbor, Beth, a beautiful, cosmopolitan young woman who pulls him into the outside world, with funny, touching and entirely unexpected results. Their implausible and enigmatic relationship reveals just how far two people from different realities can stretch in search of an extraordinary connection. (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

80

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Subtlety and nuance mark both the film's dialogue and performances. It's hard to see how Dancy and Byrne could be any better.

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75

ReelViews James Berardinelli

The tendency for an actor in a role like this is to overact. The result is often disastrous, reducing a character into a caricature. Hugh Dancy, adopting an American accent as effectively as the mannerisms of someone on the moderate portion of the Asperger's spectrum, makes Adam believable and generally sympathetic.

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75

New York Post Lou Lumenick

The beautifully crafted Adam offers no pat or easy answers.

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70

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

A sensitive but not sentimental story about a romance involving a mentally challenged young man never makes a misstep.

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70

Variety Justin Chang

Emotionally potent performances, gently offbeat humor and writer-helmer Max Mayer's assured touch guide this tender New York love story to a quietly hopeful conclusion.

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70

The New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis

The humor is delicate, and the performances sweet and sure; the script (by the director, Max Mayer) is not entirely predictable, and the Manhattan locations (lovingly photographed by Seamus Tierney) have a starry-eyed glaze.

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67

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

It's hard to buy this relationship even for a moment. Adam is sweet, meticulous, and, at times, sort of clever, but it's also a not-quite-surprising-enough heartwarming trifle.

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63

USA Today Claudia Puig

Adam is a cut above most romances and boasts a intriguing conclusion. One comes away with a sense of hope, leavened by realism.

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60

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Adam succeeds at getting inside its hero's mind and, more impressively still, gives us entrée to his singular soul.

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58

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Dancy’s character has difficulty processing information and dealing with emotion, but even he could probably see through this schmaltz.

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50

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

Beyond that educational element and the delicate performances of Dancy and Byrne, I found Adam dramatically limp, predictable and in a curious way even retrograde.

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50

Village Voice Ella Taylor

Other than Rose Byrne's on-screen radiance and a soothingly warm palette lit by cinematographer Seamus Tierney, there's not much to get passionate about in this amiable chamberpiece from theater director Max Mayer.

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40

Film Threat Jessica Baxter

I find nearly every film about mentally challenged characters excruciating to watch...None of these movies ever come close to accurately depicting what it’s like to live with mental challenges.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 6.2 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

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