Film

About Adam (2000)

Director: Gerard Stembridge

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Meet the Owens - a modern Irish family comprising one unconventional matriarch, daughters Lucy, Laura and Alice, and son David. Director Stembridge's comic follow-up to his intense thriller Guiltrip is set in a strikingly upbeat Dublin. It opens with the youngest child, the beautiful Lucy (Hudson), singing torch songs in a trendy restaurant where she also waits tables. Despite her obvious charm and no shortage of admirers, she's never had what the bookish Laura (O'Connor) would describe as 'a great passion' - then in walks Adam (Townsend), and he's perfect. 'Boring men are the curse of the world and there are just so many of them,' is how Mrs Owens (Linehan) attempts to explain Adam's unique and universal appeal. Laura believes he has a deeper, dark secret. It isn't long before Adam, the chameleon, becomes the repository for the entire family's diverse dreams and fantasies, with seduction, deception and betrayal following close behind. The implausibility is overcome by masterful use of voice-over and a clever multi-perspective structure, as well as fine performances.

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