All 'About Adam'

It is a shame that About Adam will be labeled the new Kate Hudson vehicle. As wonderful as she is in the film, it would be quite a loss if the power of the movie's ensemble cast were to go unnoticed. About Adam is an Irish film that Hudson actually made before she began filming Almost Famous, the project that has propelled her into the spotlight as Hollywood's new it-girl and earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Besides Hudson, the rest of the cast is relatively unknown. However, every one of the four main characters sparkles, and the interplay between them makes About Adam entertaining throughout. Hudson plays Lucy Owens, a nightclub singer with a knack for being unlucky in love. Her luck changes when she meets Adam (newcomer Stuart Townsend), whose sexy, mysterious performance invokes comparisons to Jude Law. Adam gives Lucy everything she has always wanted in a man-passion, spontanety and love. He even charms the rest of the Owens clan, including Lucy's mother, two sisters and younger brother. The plot thickens when Adam begins to give "everything" to both of Lucy's sisters as well. He provides the scholarly Charlotte, the youngest Owens sister, with passionate romance and allows eldest sister Alice the thoughtless affair that she craves. He even manages to help Lucy's brother David coax his stubborn girlfriend Laura into bed. Frances O'Connor's portrayal of Laura is a highpoint of the film. O'Connor (Bedazzled, Mansfield Park) recently won a Golden Globe for her performance in the television miniseries "Madame Bovary" and in Adam, she makes Laura at once intelligent and exciting. About Adam dares us to throw all of our presumptions about relationships and monogamy to the wind and embrace passion in any form, no matter how illicit. The narrative of the film is broken into four segments, each from the perspective of a different Owens sibling. Adam readjusts his personality to suit whichever character is the object of his pursuit and seduction. He pops up mysteriously wherever the Owens siblings are. Each Owens knows that Adam is hiding something, but none of them can quite figure out what it is. And it certainly does not deter any one of them from falling into his clutches. But the refreshing twist of About Adam is that by the end, no one cares enough to figure out what Adam's secrets are. Each character appreciates the way in which he enriches them, and the conventional standards for romance are deemed irrelevant. The audience, too, learns to stop asking who Adam really is, and whether he should be appreciated or vilified. It is easy to find Adam offensive, even morally repugnant. But the message of About Adam is that we will be much happier if instead, we find Adam empowering. Irish playwright Gerard Stembridge wrote and directed About Adam with the goal of portraying "today's Dublin." By bending the rules of the traditional romantic comedy and pushing the standards of what makes a happy romantic relationship, Stembridge strays far away from the sexually repressed Irish society that is often depicted in films. He shows us a Dublin society that is young and liberal. One of the delights of Stembridge's script, is that it does not hit its audience over the head with a message or statement. As Stembridge explains, "If someone just wants a good laugh, that's fine by me." And laught you will.