At the risk of sounding pompous, I will state that for the most part I watch documentaries, particularly social documentaries, and, while I have recently attempted to entertain entertainment in the form of feature films, few have made it past the 30 minute mark before getting ejected from the player, sealed in the envelope, and promptly mailed back to Netflixland. (You may note the run-on sentence. If I’m risking pomposity, such is a necessity.) Having said that, I must comment on a feature film I recently viewed that runs along the same lines: Adam (2009 20th Century Fox Searchlight).

The following is a direct copy from the Netflix DVD envelope: Adam – When beautiful teacher Beth(Rose Byrne) moves into a nearby apartment, strangely awkward Adam (Hugh Dancy), who suffers from Asperger’s syndrome, breaks through his limited social abilities and flirts with the young woman in this moving romance. Beth responds to Adam’s unusual courtship, and as they overcome the obstacles to intimacy, they learn how to face life’s other challenges. Max Mayer Directs, while Peter Gallagher and Amy Irving co-star.

So how was it? The film was strangely gripping. In fact, much of it felt like a documentary – though not the actual documentary but the dramatized storyline that accompanies some modern-day documentaries. You know, where you may have a documentary about, say, rodents and the producers and/or director weaves in a fictional storyline to either enhance the subject at hand or to “wet” its dryness. In any case, that’s what this movie felt like.

This is not a bad thing. In fact I very much enjoy those dramatized stories in documentaries. So much so that I get – apologetically nerdy – giddy when I run across such a production. Most notably, I enjoyed Discovery Channel’s “2057: City of the Future” as well as “Walking with Dinosaurs: Allosaurus.” But I digress.

There is much to like about Adam. Please note that I am not a movie enthusiast so I can draw few cross-references. In any case, I enjoyed the clumsy romance between the two characters. I also enjoyed looking at Beth (Rose Byrne). She is has a charming essence about her and I liked her voice. Was it believable? Nah. That would have to be the big criticism. Though the movie makers flirted with the idea that this girl had a lackluster love life, it’s hard to believe that such an attractive and thoroughly charming female could be so fed up with the usual to seek out the unusual. But it works I guess. I watched it. The lead character Adam (Hugh Dancy) is a poor-man’s Rainman but convincing nonetheless. Basically, he’s one-half Rainman and one-half Forrest Gump (a self-cutting jab mentioned in the film). Perhaps that’s why this movie has not been heralded in any sense – it’s been done before and (arguably) better. Still, I am compelled to write about it.

What struck me as charming about this film was it’s yearning for purity. Though trite when it comes to the subject of “special” individuals, I felt this film did it OK. So much so that when an obscenity gets uttered on-screen, it sticks out like a sore thumb, almost as if the film makers placed it in there just to show that this was not a Lifetime Movie. I felt it unnecessary.

3 out of 5 stars

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