e-pappalettera
Adam is a young electronic engineer that works for a factory that makes toys. His passion is astronomy. His fate seems to be loneliness because it is afflicted with the Asperger's syndrome. It is a form of autism that inhibits the person the opportunity to understand the real intentions of anyone beyond appearances. One day in the laundry room, he meets Beth, a children's books writer who teaches in a school. A love story could happen between the two. There are small movie that at first seem to cover the roads already widely traveled. This is the case of Adam in which the two protagonists meet themselves bringing many good reasons not to believe in the possibility of a relationship with each other. The story, again with the feeling of deja vu, then seems to move towards the most classic of the genre happy ending 'disabled on the screen'. But it is not true and it is not even the opposite. Because the film of Mayer (thanks to the remarkable performance of Hugh Dancy and Rose Byrne) onto the road of research that you leave behind the predictable romance for insight into the more complex search of what it means to love and be loved. All this through discordant note as the subplot of the legal proceedings of the father of Beth and her relationship with the girl's mother. Would have been better just focus on the dynamics of a relationship between those who (Beth) had always believed to have the role in the life of the Little Prince and then discover that they are actually the Pilot. Saint Exupéry, once again, has something to give to the movies.
waldwuffel-1
First things first: I belong to the kind of reviewers that does have Asperger's Syndrome, and hence, my review will take the portrayal of this condition heavily into account.I will not bother going into detail much about the plot, because frankly, there is not much to talk about, it is a very generic love story that is cast, shot and executed like any other of those hundreds of romantic comedy flicks out there. It is neither extraordinarily bad or good in that regard, and it works quite well in this extent. Now, the twist of the story is that Adam, the male protagonist, has Asperger's Syndrome, a condition that puts him on the autistic spectrum: He is trapped in a world that needs to be in order, predictable and isolated for him to understand it. He cannot relate to other people because he cannot understand their feelings or what they are thinking, he has trouble interpreting indirect commands and figures of speech, and while he is extraordinarily brilliant in his field of interest, engineering and cosmology, these are the only things that matter to him, and he assumes everyone else is as into them as he is. Then Beth moves into an apartment in his house, and turns his world upside down because she shows interest in this awkward guy she just finds cute at first, but manages to see beyond his quirks and oddities to see that there is in fact a kind, honest, loyal and incredibly caring and sweet man that has been dropped into a world he will never fully understand. The rest unfolds in a predictable way, and I won't go mentioning the subplot concerning Beth's father, as it is pretty much just a hook for the main plot to unfold. Where the movie shines is in Hugh Dancy's incredibly authentic performance of an "Aspie" as we like to get called, and it is clear from the very beginning that the actor put a great deal of effort into finding out what the condition defines. I'd like to stress that he is definitely on the far end of the spectrum, meaning that his Asperger's is rather severe. What was truly astonishing is that fact that the film indeed manages to be funny without making fun of the protagonist or the condition itself. We laugh with Beth when she realizes that Adams incredibly inappropriate behaviour does not stem from rudeness or selfishness, but true lack of understanding, and we smile when we see Adam does yet another thing that is socially not accepted in his effort to blend in and be a good partner for Beth. It also gave me a really painful feeling in my heart, because I know many, many of the situations Adam found himself stranded in, and he just did not know how to deal with them. People with Asperger's Syndrome or HFA (High Functioning Autism) are more or less very tragic figures: We are not like those helpless autistics that truly live in another world and are sometimes capable of other amazing feats in return - like Dustin Hoffman's character in Rain Man -, we are connected enough to still live in the same society, but we have a very hard time understanding the unwritten rules. To us, other people are chaotic, unpredictable and scary, and we have the feeling that we live in a world where we do not belong, a world not made for us and that is changing too rapidly that in our struggle to keep up, we stumble, we fall and we bump into things and people. We come over as self absorbed, preoccupied oddballs, when really all we want is understanding. Our increased longing for solitude and quiet makes bonding with other humans an active task rather than something that comes naturally, something we have to constantly work on. We want to be alone, but we still want company somehow. We have the same feelings and needs ans anyone else, but being unable to express them makes it hard to be understood - and almost impossible to have your wishes fulfill when you care for someone, love them and want to be near them, and yet cannot express your feelings and give your partner the love he wants. I am getting of track, but this movie has touched me, because not only did it portrait Asperger's Syndrome in a dignified and authentic manner, it also showed me what kind of stress it puts on the people we care about - and it is a heavy burden to carry indeed to know that you are making the life of your loved ones so incredibly hard at times.
vivalareaganrevoluti-306-1921
Spoiler Alert. The movie is well written until the last 1/4. It becomes predictable and unoriginal, it neglects to take the movie as far as it should go almost as a means of protecting the hearts of the audience. For the movie to receive a rating higher than a 6 and be deemed a classic, Adam has to die. If he did the movie would be on par with other screenplay masterpieces, but because he doesn't it becomes nothing more than just another decent movie. Don't get me wrong the movie was enjoyable, but the ending just left me slightly upset that Mayer wasn't capable of fully weaving greatness into the conclusion. I recommend the movie, but just don't get your hopes up to be amazed by the ending, because it will let you down.
mahaveerjain_85
It started off very well, has firm grip on story. As a geek you like to see the movie,a typical boy who is intelligent but suffering from Asperger syndrome and fell in love with his neighbor. You kinda like this story which drew my attention to watch this movie. I had very high expectation from this movie, it plotted character very well initially but as movie progressed it lack proper storyline. You feel like movie is running running and suddenly stopped. There is no up and down, you will not feel any thrill or emotion after watching this. They could make this movie better by putting more emotions or romance. Girl fall in love with a men who is suffering from Asperger syndrome and without much interaction she fall in love; that's hard to accept. but overall you can still watch it.
