Film Review

By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

About Adam
Directed by Gerard Stembridge
Disney 05/01 DVD/VHS Feature Film
R - language, sexuality

Lucy Owens (Kate Hudson) is a waitress and singer in a Dublin cafe who's been unlucky in love. Looking for a grand passion mixed with great spontaneity, she is swept off her feet by Adam (Stuart Townsend), a dashing young man who seems to know exactly what she needs. Lucy introduces him to her family: widowed mom (Rosaleen Linehan); her two sisters, Laura (Frances O'Connor), a bookworm, and Alice (Charlotte Bradley), an unhappily married woman; and her brother David (Alan Maher), who is having trouble seducing his girlfriend. They are all impressed by Adam.

This sprightly romantic comedy written and directed by Gerard Stembridge, a Dublin playwright, proves that the most seductive phrase in the English language is "I need you." Adam is able to tailor himself to the desires and yearnings of each member of Lucy's family — providing them with what they need. We see what this means as the story unfolds from four different perspectives — Lucy's, Laura's, Alice's, and David's. Some, no doubt, will see Adam as nothing more than an amoral Don Juan who enjoys the art of seduction. Others might ponder the drama as an urban fairytale about the large role desire plays in sexual politics.

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by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat