Adam & Paul (2004)

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Sometimes (though so extremely rarely that its almost mythical that it may ever happen once in your life and if twice you count yourself blessed beyond all that is holy) you run across a movie that you'd never heard of and upon watching it unfold before your (there's a word I'd like to quote here from the movie that would be most appropriate but I can't cause it would take a letter before i before g and five stars and an apostrophe to tentatively test IMDb's family friendly policy so I'll just go on instead) eyes you find yourself not quite believin' what you're seein' and then when you realize it's getting' going' and buildin' and buildin' and then, O.M.G. when it ends you cry for your good fortune for finding it and watching it and that you'll never again be able to see it for the first time again but who cares, you've seen what you've seen and for a moment you stare at the screen then wipe the tears from your eyes, then wipe the tears of joy for seeing this film from your eyes and you rise from your seat no matter if you're all alone or in the middle of a crowd of strangers, you leap from you seat clapping so hard and so fast and so loudly that your hands hurt so badly you weep but you cant stop to wipe your face because you're screaming with such joyful intensity at the screen the credits are gracing and you realize that all the strangers around you are doing the same thing and you grab hold onto one another and pass the moment in the exquisite embrace of pure unadulterated holy humanity. Then after many long moments savoring it together you hug everyone around you and kiss each of them full on the lips and some of them become friends for life the movie was that profound. And you run home to your computer and you look up this movie and you discover what happened to its stars and you weep and you weep and you weep for all he has achieved. And you cross yourself and bless him. Again and again. Magnificent.If you consider yourself a movie buff of any degree you will race to watch this movie and, while I know you'll try and try and try to resist me and what I've said here, by the end you will find yourself grudgingly at least, agreeing with me. Whole, ______' hardidly. Really. Don't believe me? Throw down and see.;)(and i'm not even catholic, and its not even relevant and yet, well, i bow low still)One day.

Funny, bleak, sad, absurdist look at a day in the life two Dublin heroin addicts. It's more 'Waiting for Godot' than 'Trainspotting'. Two wonderful lead performances by Tom Murphy and Mark O'Halloran as a sort of dark, drug addled Laurel and Hardy.It's terrifically shot, with wonderful wide angle images of our two anti-heroes tramping through the urban jungle. The ending wasn't quite as powerful for me as I think it was meant to be, and a few twists felt a bit forced. But weeks after seeing it, images and moments stick in my mind. Always the sign of a good film.Great to see that director Lenny Abrahamson continued to grow and make very strong films after this, including "What Richard Did", "Frank" and the Oscar nominated "Room", the last two finally garnering him some well deserved recognition beyond his homeland.

"Adopting an off-kilter, slapstick approach to heroin addiction is, in modern terms, about as politically correct as mentioning nipple-piercing in a nunnery. But, then, Adam & Paul – Irish cinema's latest offering – is no cautionary tale…"This is by far the best movie ever to give a portrait of junkies, this movie goes deep inside and shows it all inside out..This movie is strong,good script,great casting,excellent acting.. I personally would have ranked it as my favorite's movie, there can be no denying that it is a film at the top5 of my listAbsolutely Heartbreaking,Brutal,honest,and a MUST see movie..!!!

Touted as one of the best Irish films of the year, Adam and Paul was one huge disappointment in my opinion. With other huge titles such as Intermission, Cowboys and Angels and Man about Dog to compete with, this clumsy tale of 2 heroin addicts in inner city Dublin simply does not meet the standard.While the acting was above average (particularly in Tom Murphy's case), the characters simply don't seem believable and the development is weak and slow. Adam and Paul both seem to morph into different characters as the plot permits: One minute they are playing with a toddler while the next they are robbing a handicapped teenager. The storyline is unstructured and tedious to say the least, with plot holes appearing left, right, and center. Meanwhile, the comic relief is dry and certain scenes seem to drift by without adding anything to the story or the character development.Overall Adam and Paul isn't a bad movie but far from the critical acclaim it has been receiving recently. The director Lenny Abrahamson shows good potential however I believe his style would be better-suited to a more aggressive movie, as the long scenes of Adam and Paul seem to drag on behind the passive tone of the movies main characters