Aspergers syndrome and romance movies. Not habitual bedfellows, but somehow a combination that has been brought together comfortably in romantic dramedy Adam.

We open with Adam Raki in mourning after the loss of his father. His mother having died many years ago, Adam is left alone is his apartment. All is not well in his job developing electronic toys either, as his boss is applying increasing amounts of pressure on Adam to get his projects completed quicker and cheaper. Things are generally looking bleak for our eponymous hero, until Beth Buchwald moves into the building that is.

The pair are tentative of one another at first, as you might expect from a man in mourning and a young woman wary of her feelings for someone with an illness on the autism spectrum. But soon they come to know one another, and venture into each other’s lives as the come to terms with career problems, the threat of familial incarceration and the general trials and tribulations of life that are so uncomfortably amplified for Aspergers sufferers.

Hugh Dancy and Rose Byrne deliver warm and nuanced performances as the central pair, moving between the warm sensitivity that their relationship requires and the passionate frustrations that develop as it struggles in a world full of obstacles they demonstrate subtlety and range that does the film proud. Byrne deserves special praise, though, for her job at portraying a difficult role without going to excess. Whilst playing an Aspergers sufferer is undoubtedly difficult, playing someone who falls in love with such a man is even harder because of the ever-present pitfalls of coming across too pitying, needy, odd or just plain cruel. Byrne deals with all of these issues with great dexterity, and no small amount of flair.

The problem is that the film is too staged. The setup for the pair as they meet is too contrived for the relationship to feel like it develops organically, with each step toward their union there is an obvious ‘event’ which adds another unwanted layer of artifice. Similarly, the problems that the couple face may well be interesting and fleshed out with care and attention, but they are all far too convenient and obviously dramatic for the experiences o ring true. The most uncomfortable indicator of the artifice that underlies the story is the variable severity of Adam’s Aspergers: sometimes suffering screaming tantrums and self-harm, others merely talking too much, there is little consistency in his affliction.

And so, for all the emotional involvement of its capable lead actors, Adam ends up too close to a paint-by-numbers relationship movie that gives away the theatre background of its writer-director far too easily. The film required a bit more consistency, and some more visually arresting elements, to draw attention from the heavy reliance on plot devices.

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By: Mike Edwards