Adam

I saw Adam last night starring Hugh Dancy, and I absolutely loved it. The film is not your average romantic comedy, and the couple is anything but average. Adam is touching, realistic and often funny. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last winter and won an award.

British actor Dancy (Confessions of a Shopoholic) plays Adam Raki, a smart, handsome man with Asperger's Sydrome, a form of autism. Adam is severly socially awkward and lives in his own little world in NYC as a toy engineer. His father has just passed away, and he is living his strictly routine life consisting of work and macaroni-and-cheese dinners. He loves outer space and passionately talks about it to anyone who will listen.

A young woman named Beth Buchwald (Rose Byrne of Troy and Knowing) moves into his building. They are immediately seem smitten with each other after an awkward encounter while doing laundry. Beth is an aspiring childrens' books author who is currently working as a teacher. One night Beth invites Adam to hang out with her and some friends, Adam is physically incapable of going when she knocks on his door. When she returns for the night, Adam is waiting to show her the planetarium in his living room.

Beth decides to research Adam's condition, and they begin dating. They begin to understand each other more. Adam tries to understand her feelings and how he is supposed to react to them, while Beth helps him in social interactions. When he loses his job, she helps him practice for interviews. Adam and Beth's relationship helped them both grow for the better.

Dancy was fantastic in this film. I've never known anyone with Asperger's, but Dancy's protrayal of Adam was both touching and at times uncomfortable, which I imagine is exactly what Director Max Mayer wanted us to feel.