About Adam (2001)

How sad is this?

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Absolutely Fantastic

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

This is a quirky comedy set in Ireland about a flighty waitress with a string of broken hearts trailing her discovering the love of her life in the form of Adam - but this is only one string of the story. As she, her two sisters and brother weave the story of how Adam appeared in their lives from their own point of view you are led on a wonderfully mad story that ultimately tells you very little 'about Adam' but tells a good story nonetheless. And while I agree with a previous reviewer that Kate Hudson's accent leaves much to be desired its hardly the worst attempt at an accent I've ever heard in a film and largely doesn't distract if you simply say "that's a crap Irish accent" and then focus on the words. Wonderful acting by all of the sisters (Kate's accent aside) and when viewed as a film not simply as a "comedy" is a very good one.

I just don't get the good reviews. I found no redeeming value in this film whatsoever!Though neither prudish nor religious, I nevertheless missed, somehow, the delight that other viewers experienced in the lies and secret dalliances of Adam with his fiancée's sisters. Evidently no one had a problem with the groom engaging in affairs with his intended's family, or with sisters casually helping themselves to their sister's beau.The folks responsible for this film seem to glorify, or in the very least accept, unbridled deceit - as long as the primary deceiver is a charismatic charmer who can lie without guilt!All in all, I found "About Adam" as pointless and boring as pizza without cheese... and a total waste of time and money!

I did not even know the tag-line to the film About Adam (or All About Adam) but my first thought after I saw it was "He came, He saw, He conquered...them all." And it is almost identical with the film tag-line "He came. He saw. He conquered. One sister at a time." Gerard Stembridge's film belongs to the long suffered and rarely done well genre of romantic comedy or so called chick flick but this movie was a nice surprise. It has a twist to it, is amusing, enjoyable and funny, at least up until the very final. In the end, the writer/director seemed to have lost an interest of simply did not know what to do with his main character who could've been a lighter version or a younger brother to Pasolini's mysterious visitor in Theorem or, if asked Who are you, he could've answered, Just your average, horny little devil, not unlike Mr. Darryl van Horn. Yes, About Adam may not use any original ideas and it brings to mind immediately the movies as different as Theorem; Sliding Doors; He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not; the Spanish Oscar winner for the Best Foreign movie, Bell Époque, The Witches of Eastwick, and more than one Woody Allen's dramedies, Hannah and Her Sisters, particularly. The story of a charming mysterious man who makes every member of one family fall hard for him simply by being there and expressing the interest to each person's problems, troubles, and needs has been told many times but I personally was amused and smiled more than once while watching this little comedy and I found it if not a bright lost gem but a nice way to spend an hour and half following the adventures of a nice guy , every girl's dream come true who could make women happy because he knew exactly what each of them wanted, needed, longed for, lacked in her life, and dreamed about. I found especially funny always changing and adjusted for a particular listener the story of the powerful sexy mysterious collectible Jaguar, the perfect car for a sexy, mysterious, perfect man. Cinematically, the movie that takes place in Dublin is very pleasant, and I did not mind the repeating narrative that helped to look at the same scenes from very different perspectives and unexpected points of view. The young and talented actors and actresses including pre-Almost Famous very cute and singing Kate Hudson, Frances O'Connor and Charlotte Bradley as her older sisters, and Stuart Townsend as irresistible Adam all made their characters likable which is important for this type of film.

Lucy (Kate Hudson, with a pretty good accent) is the youngest of three sisters in London. She and her slightly older sister, Laura (Frances O'Connor) still live at home with their mother, due to monetary circumstances. Lucy is a singing waitress at a cafe and Laura is a graduate student at the university. As it so often happens, the two younger sisters are complete opposites. Lucy is a beautiful and outgoing gal who has been through a ton of boyfriends while Laura is shy and saving herself for a truly great romance. One day, a new, handsome man, Adam (Stuart Townsend) enters the cafe where Lucy works. She is smitten and invites him out on a date. He accepts. Soon they are quite close and thinking about their future together. Yet, one day Laura meets Adam when she is out and about and they find they, too, have a strong mutual attraction. If they follow their impulses, what will be the consequences? This is an appealing romcom, mostly due to the very good-looking performers, but it has a bizarre plot that challenges the normal boundaries of a successful love story. Without giving too much away, the film could easily have been called Adam and the Three Sisters. As such, the boy meets girl concept here becomes more boy meets girl, girl, girl, with surprising results. Then, too, although the costumes are wonderful (Hudson has never looked lovelier) and the settings quite nice, the actors have a thick British accent that is sometimes difficult to follow. Therefore, while the production values are of the highest standards, making the film look great, beware romcom fans. If your idea of a successful, comedic love tale insists upon a man having only one true love, this may not be the film for you. Even so, most romance fans are eager to find a new watch and will probably accept this one as an interesting diversion for an evening.