Barry Ronge's review of "Adam"

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I've found this review of Adam by Barry Ronge. I would like to know what some of you think.

http://www.ratherronge.co.za/html/sub_content.aspx?reviewid=1381

He calls it Asperger's "disease". Excuse me?

"Adam Raki (Hugh Dancy) is a man in his mid-Twenties who has Asperger’s disease..." That kills it for me.

I'll admit, I don't like Asperger's being called a disease either but I think that statement was mostly out of ignorance. If you are willing to overlook that minor detail, Barry Ronge did seem to give a positive review of the film. I was actually thinking of e-mailing him a while back to get a review of "Adam" because he is one of the top movie critics back here in South Africa.

I thought the review was really good, other than that one word.

A disease?! Right, that's it, I'm contacting him! I live on his side of the planet after all. And he's on Twitter.

Haha... forget Barry Ronge.... How about this gem from Kirk Honeycutt from hollywoodreporter.com:

Bottom Line: A sensitive but not sentimental story about a romance involving a mentally challenged young man never makes a misstep.

Review

That's a good review as well.

It's only one word. Look at the review as a whole you bunch of detail obsessed aspies

I just thought I'd revive this thread to have a more general discussion of the movie. Today was a public holiday here in South Africa (Heritage Day), and I went to see Adam. The character portrayed Asperger's fairly well to some extent. I was debating whether he got the girl in the end because it seemed to be implied but not shown.

The review looks good. I guess the "disease" part is bad, but I don't think that ruins it.

Part of the reason why I started this thread is because it had a good write up. If you read my previous post you would know that I just revived this thread hoping to have a more in-depth discussion of the film because I saw it today. I thought it was better to revive this thread than to start a new one.

Unlike the previous review from that jackass Rex Reed, this one is ok. I'm sure the use of the term "disease" in this context was simply due to ignorance, it sounds to me like he forgot to consult his thesaurus. Overlooking that, my seal of approval.

I haven't watched Adam yet because I suspect the character will be an overblown stereotype of an Aspie, as was the case in Mozart and the Whale. I was going to wait for it to come out on DVD. I think it's about time there was a realistic portrayal in the media of Asperger's as the spectrum disorder it is...not just at one end of it! So I'm curious Jono, what's your verdict on the portrayal of Asperger's in Adam...is he an "average" Aspie or Hollywood's eccentric on steroids version??

I don't think there is such a thing as an "average" aspie. That's the main problem with portraying a stereotype. Having said that, some of the traits showed in Mozart and the Whale did seem a little put-on in the sense of being over-exaggerated. I did find that I could relate to Adam's traits which didn't seem as over-exaggerated. That could be because the actor realised that we aren't all the same, which I seem to remember reading somewhere. You might not agree with me, however.

Before this thread disappears off the page, has anyone els seen Adam? What did you think of the movie?