Running time: 97 minutes
Starring: Stuart Townsend, Kate Hudson, Frances O'Connor, Charlotte Bradley, Alan Maher, Tommy Tiernan
Rating 6 out of 10
Only a man could dream up a film like About Adam, the story of a handsome and charming rogue who can bed as many women as he likes with impunity.Lucy Owens (Hudson) has just broken up with her dippy stand-up comic boyfriend (Tiernan) when she meets lovable Adam (Townsend) and is smitten. Adam seems like the perfect guy - loyal, attentive, handsome and full of romantic gestures. He always seems to know the right thing to say, and is genuinely interested in her opinions.
Little does Lucy realise that Adam is also the object of affection of her two sisters, bookworm Laura (O'Connor) and married Alice (Bradley).
Wedding bells toll for Lucy and Adam, but will the rest of her family see through the newcomer's deception and expose him for the jack-the-lad he is?
About Adam is an effervescent new spin on romance in present-day Ireland. The central character is a sexual immoral charlatan who literally sleeps with the entire Owens family (mother excluded, thankfully). Despite all the lies and betrayal, Adam is an incredibly likeable chap and a great deal of that charm is down to Townsend's radiant performance. The young Irish actor couldn't be more gregarious and suave if he tried, and it's easy to see how such a personality could bewitch so many people.
Hudson and O'Connor trot out shaky Irish accents and Bradley is delightful as the wife whose lust for Adam reinvigorates her stagnant marriage.
The conclusion stretches the central conceit to the limit, reflecting the off-kilter sensibility of the rest of the film.
About Adam is male fantasy writ large. Yet there's a sweetness and sexiness to Gerald Stembridge's modern-day comedy which is hard to resist.
