Adam

The film ADAM is not going to reinvent anyone’s perceptions about people who have Asp burger’s Syndrome (slight form of autism) or reconnect us with an awareness movement, but I don’t think that was its goal either. What this film is intended to do is give us nothing more than a day-in-the-life of a person who has this disability. I believe that by now the stigma of people who have disabilities cannot lead a normal life is abolished. FORREST GUMP and THE OTHER SISTER probably are also good examples of films that make that point as well. However, there are snafus that arise in their lives and create tensioned filled moments and drama that might not normally be created by a person without these disabilities. But then that leads to the question of the normalcy of “normal” people and their overreactions. Everyone has moments where their tops pop and overly aggressive and unwarranted anger and rage spill out. I think that is just inherent in the human condition. So maybe painting their overreactions as part of their disability is irrelevant.

Adam Trailer Here

I watched this film with my wife who is a special education teacher for the elementary age groups. To clarify, she works with kids that have Emotional Impairments (EI), as opposed to those with Cognitive Impairments (CI), so she doesn’t deal with people with autism, retardation, etc on a daily basis – I think so anyways. She’ll probably correct me if she ever reads this. But it was interesting to watch this film with her because she threw in little tidbits here and there about people with AB Syndrome and their typical MOs. I told her she should record an expert commentary track and send it in. Haha.

So the film is a decent love story and it’s nice to see the build-up in their relationship. There are a lot of musical montages throughout the film, which usually mean a weaker storyline, but I don’t think it was detrimental to the solidness of the film. Overall I enjoyed it and it was entertaining. The main female character reminded me a lot of Ellen Paige, and she did a really good job with being vulnerable, open, and honest with Adam who is obviously a different kind of relationship than she’s used to. This is a good one to watch as a couple I suppose. And the ending was consistent with the film’s goal I believe. It kept the truisms founded in reality (if I can say that).

Rating: 8.5/10