“I’m not Forrest Gump you know.”
Movies about mental disorders are tricky creatures. Firstly, there is the inevitable Rain Man comparison to contend with. Then an audience must wrestle with the actor’s very obvious performance; something that can easily take you out of the movie.
Hugh Dancy’s titular character has Asperger’s syndrome: a high-functioning form of autism that manifests as a lack of empathy and difficulty in social interactions. Enter cute new neighbour Beth (Rose Byrne), and an offbeat romance ensues. Except that’s not even half the story. Add the recent death of Adam’s father, plus the possible imprisonment of Beth’s father (Peter Gallagher), combined with a courtroom showdown and an unemployment ultimatum, and – aside from the mental disorder – you’ve got a film that’s rather muddled.
It is almost as if writer/director Max Mayer didn’t trust himself to stick with the core romance, to really uncover the daunting and delightful realities of this relationship. Sure there’s a meeting-the-friends bit, as well as an unusual masquerade-cum-restaurant scene. In fact masks feature throughout the film in an apparent allusion to Adam’s inability to empathise with the plight or the joy of others. And yet Mayer pulls his punches, wandering into the courtroom when he should have stayed with Adam and Beth.
Dancy is convincing as the blunt but passionate astronomer Adam. Evidently enjoying working with Australian actresses, Dancy follows up his recent pairing with Isla Fisher in Confessions of a Shopaholic by generating some charming chemistry with wide-eyed Byrne. However her amiable performance as aspiring children’s book writer and daddy’s girl suffers from being underwritten.
For all Adam’s fascination with the night sky, the film succeeds in creating a few sparkles, but never gets close to delivering its star-crossed lovers.
2.5/5---
This review also appears in The Brag
Australian release date: 20 August 2009
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