About Adam (2000)

The reason I say that is because I like the way they give different perspectives of several different scenes as seen by the different characters in the movie. I really like Stewart Townsend (he's one of those adorable people that are charismatic not to mention easy on the eyes). This is definitely NOT a cinematic masterpiece but I don't think it was meant to be either. It was entertaining and THAT's what I liked about it. Well, that and Stewart Townsend but I think I already mentioned that. Didn't sound like many people liked this one but I have to disagree. It's fun, sexy, flirtatious,and comedic all in one movie. Give it a chance and watch it again or for the first time, whichever the case may be.

Fmovies: I guess from my reaction to many a romantic comedy, some may think I'm male. Actually I'm a heterosexual female who enjoys ORIGINAL romantic comedy, but I also have half a brain and expect some degree of intelligence from films.

The Laura character summed this film up pretty thoroughly for me. She is an English actor, meaning that two of the main characters, including of course THE main female lead, were not Irish. I can't be bothered repeating why this is extremely sad - it's been said so many times - but the marketing machine behind most movies will not change it's mind about shoving Americans (or Brits) into the leads in "foreign" films, no matter how much people complain. They want the bucks, you know, and a famous names DOES mean more bums on seats. Sad but true.

I found this film uninspired. There were perhaps 2 or 3 genuinely amusing and surprising lines. The characters were pretty much laughable, in a bad way. Adam's justification for his machiavellian behaviour I found ridiculous and unconvincing. This guy is not altruistic - that much should have been patently obvious to anyone with a brain half the size of an ant's b**ls.

I hung on to the end. Lord knows why as I tend to advise: if you don't like a movie, turn it off. Maybe I'm feeling rather masochistic today or maybe I kept hoping something was going to happen to make it worth my while. It didn't.

That said, if you don't care about intelligent scripts or whether a movie rehashes themes/styles/plots that have been done better elsewhere many a time and if you like fluffy, pointless romantic comedy no matter what, then watch and enjoy! 4/10

A lot has changed in Ireland in the last twenty years, and there's little of the old Oirishry on display in this film, which is set instead against a backdrop of posh department stores and stylish cafés. A glib, celebratory tone underpins what commences as a run-of-the-mill romcom, before the plot starts to venture into more unorthodox territory. But the film never really dares to take sides, and a weak conclusion suggests that all the tastier material should be reconsidered just as part of the froth. The result is an odd film, with all the flaws of a feel-good movie, but which doesn't actually make you feel good in the end.

About Adam fmovies. I plodded toward the multiplex against my will, my girlfriend dragging me along as we went. '...but whyyy???' I moaned. 'Shut up with ya, we're going to see it, ya big ejit!' my girlfriend snapped. My reluctance to see 'About Adam' was based on previous experiences of experiencing Irish-made films, they were all the same - poor little, thatched cottage family living in repressed little ol' Ireland in the midst of poverty - boring! However, I actually really enjoyed 'About Adam' - with proper distribution and promotion - this could be a huge hit across Europe and the USA. 'About Adam', for a thankful change, shows Ireland how it really is - modern, stylish and prosperous. The people in the film aren't weeping throughout the entire film because their potato patch is unproductive, they are just like ordinary, modern Irish people - well, we don't all go sh**ging our fiance's entire family - but other than that it's real. The film is very witty and entertaining, if only a little slow at some parts. Kate Hudson has a surprisingly good Irish accent and Stuart Townsend is a well-cast star with a bright film throughout the film industry, here and abroad. 'About Adam' is a very positive and encouraging leap forward for the Irish film industry and is an example of how more Irish films should be made in the future - we're sick of dwelling in the past - it's the positive present and bright future people want to see. 'About Adam' bears more of a resemblance to 'American Pie' and 'Road Trip' than to 'The Field' and other such films. All in all, a good show. I encourage all, European, American, Australian etc, to see this film - not just because I'm Irish, but because it is a genuinely enjoyable, funny movie.

On the face of it, it seems a little much that a no doubt sexy guy will attract females like a magnet including three sisters, one of their brother's girlfriend - and the brother - but it could well happen I guess. That in essence is roughly the plot, so if that appeals you'll probably like the film - it's reasonably well cast, adequately acted, nicely filmed and moves along at a fast pace. But if that plotline sounds too superficial, you can't stand seeing an E-type jaguar painted pale blue and aren't overly excited by Dublin as a setting, then you'll probably find it a bit ho hum. The promise of lots of appealing sex scenes will also be disappointing - certainly there is some action in that department but filmed very prudishly. However, Irish films are a rarity so that may be enough in itself to tempt a viewing.

'About Adam' is a male counterpart to Gerry Stembridge's classic TV drama, 'the Truth about Clare', his innovative film about Ireland and abortion. In that film, three characters tried to grope, through memories, prejudices, egotism, blindness etc., the truth about the title character, a pregnant woman who died following an abortion in England (it is still illegal in Ireland); here, four characters try to capture the essence of the elusive Adam, a jack of all relationships but mastered by none.

A knowledge of Stembridge's previous, more sober film gives this breezy comedy a darker edge - its tale of a family being given everything they sexually desire is an appropriate metaphor for a society like Ireland currently going through an unheard-of economic boom, creating a culture of extreme self-interest. The dangers of this self-interest are plain to see - a few weeks ago another Stembridge TV satire was aired about Ireland's racist treatment of refugees.

We have never had this much prosperity before, and we don't want anyone else sharing it. Similarly, the last person this film is 'about' is Adam. Like 'Clare', the film is structured around the personal narratives of each character involved with Adam - Lucy (Kate Hudson, and, I'm afraid, the hype for once is spot-on - she IS adorable), the spontaneous, singing waitress with a new boyfriend every week, who finally settles down to a 'great passion'; Laura (Frances O'Conner - can there be any doubt now that she is our finest actress?), the pretentious, uptight English post-grad doing a thesis on repressed Victorian women writers who is 'loosened up' by Adam, her assumptions revealed to be a lie; David, the brother, dating a prim virgin, enlisting Adam's help and finding himself sexually attracted to him; Alice, the elder sister, trapped in a prosperous marriage to a pompous dullard, intrigued by Adam, but unwilling to lose control like her siblings that easy.

Each narrative is tailored to each witness' personality (like 'Dracula', an ironic allusion throughout), in the way each story is shaped; in the stylistic devices employed; in tone; but, most importantly, in the perception of Adam. 'Clare', for all its excellence, played to that age-old myth, the mystery, inscrutability, unattainability, unknowability of woman. 'Adam', the first man, remorselessly documented throughout thousands of years of masculine culture, is suddenly the mystery, the woman, the sphinx, the passive black hole.

Adam (which may not even be his name) is the blank onto which the various characters project their fantasies - he is literally what they want him to be. Naturally, plot points overlap within the four stories, and our interpretation of them changes with greater knowledge, but, paradoxically, our knowledge of Adam diminishes, helped by the lies and stories he spins about himself. Who is Adam? Besides the obvious pleasure of bedding three beautiful women, why does he do it? In fact, forget that 'besides', that's probably your answer.

As well as alluding to his own work, Stembridge cleverly remodels two other classics of sexual amorphousness. Like Terence Stamp in Pasolini's 'Theorem', Adam is a stranger who enters a bourgeois household where everyone has a stereotypical role they adhere to, and which Adam smashes, forcing them to review their lives and the assumptions they live by. This has a liberating effect, but also a