...aggiungerei se non lo avete fatto...
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About Adam is a new Irish film from Gerry Stembridge. We woke up toffeeman to get him to go and see if it was any good...
When the credits rolled and About Adam was over I chuckled. I felt good. It took a while but I really warmed to this film.
Gerry Stembridge is probably not a household name. But he should be. Shooting to prominence as Dermot Morgan's sidekick on Scrap Saturday, Stembridge moved on to make the under-watched Guiltrip. He's also written and produced many plays and TV shows which I haven't seen but I'm sure were very good. The only blot on his resume is his scriptwriting role on Ordinary Decent Criminal but we can forgive him that.
One of my favourite things about About Adam is that it is set in a Dublin that is easily recognisable to your typical film reviewer who works for a student website. I've walked past the Gallery of Photography. Many times. And I was in the Winding Stair bookshop to meet somebody once. It just makes it cooler when you're watching a film and the characters walk down a street that you know. Kindof makes you part of the action. And anybody who lived in Dublin last year is part of the action in a way, because About Adam is about living, and loving, in Dublin in the prosperous year 2000. There's no sign of fugitive IRA men, fearsome patriarchal monsters or anyone from Fair City or Glenroe. Just like in real life. And it's funny.
In About Adam the same story is told four times from the point of view of the four members of the Owens family. Adam [Stuart Townsend] starts courting Lucy [Kate Hudson] and quickly becomes like another member of an incestous family. First Kate tells the story of meeting her dream man, then her two sisters and her brother tell the story of their relationships with the lucky Adam. It's an innovative way of plotting the film and in this case it works very well. OK, so you see what's coming sometimes but there aren't supposed to be huge twists, it ambles melodically along and pulls you with it.
About Adam is a romantic comedy and it's an Unbreakable rule that all romantic comedies worth their admission fee have to be choc full of pretty people. And we are not disappointed here. Adam is cherubicly handsome. The Owens' girls Lucy, bookish turned sex-pot Laura [Frances O'Connor], and married and bored Alice [Charlotte Bradley] are all winsome. Only a dishevelled Tommy Tiernan [as Lucy's soppy ex] lets the side down but he's got a few good jokes so it's OK.
The best thing about About Adam is Adam. We never really know him until the final scene, and then he is just so cool. At first he looks like a bit of a dweeb but as the different stories unfold and interconnect I couldn't help but be impressed. It's not just his Jaguar and his penthouse flat in Temple Bar and his job in the Gallery of Photography. The guy is just so damned charismatic. Townsend does a good job. It is hard for an audience to like someone who does such seemingly disagreeable things, but everyone seemed to like him. When I grow up I would like to be like Adam.
So there you go, the latest Irish film may not tackle many important social issues, but it was entertaining, which is a big plus. You may have read in these pages before about the state of Irish films. About Adam is a good refute.
PS. If you're lucky enough to be in one of the 19 cinemas "in large metropolitan areas such as Dublin, Cork and Galway"then you should see The Last Mango in Dublin before the feature presentation. TLMID is a short film set in a restaurant. It was decent.
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Last mango in Dublin
( Espresso Films comedy short film "Last Mango in Dublin" won the Audience Prize at the 1999 Cork International Film Festival and attracted considerable attention on the international festival circuit. The film was written and directed by Hugh Farley and produced by Karen Edmonds. The film was distributed by Buena Vista (Ireland)
a proposito di film due buoni cinema dove danno appunto buon cinema sono lo Screen e ovviamente l 'Irish film center in temple bar...che e'anche un bel posto..
Sean
[Modificato da Sean1 17/08/2004 15.42]
Sean
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Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
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