Adam (2009)

As soon as I heard "Asperger" in the trailer, I wanted to see this movie. That's right: I apparently have the syndrome and thus take interest in these things. This may sound strange to those who know how bored I've gotten with literary accounts by Aspergians, but movies rely more heavily on plot. In this case, it's a romantic drama that looks a bit like an indie.

Adam is a 29-year-old space-loving engineer whose widowed dad dies in the beginning, requiring him to grow up some more. Soon he bumps into a new apartment neighbor, Beth, who could use a little assistance while settling in. Despite his social ineptitude -- literal-mindedness, brutal honesty, self-absorption, introversion, emotional tone-deafness -- she finds him kind of sweet and attractive. The path from there is cute but very bumpy, with further complications as Beth's dad goes on trial for an offense that wasn't entirely clear to me.

Judging from IMDb comments, the most common complaint about the film is the seeming exaggeration of Adam's symptoms, such that some Aspies find him unrelatable if not insulting. My relevant flaws are probably more severe than I notice, but surely not as bad as his (anymore, anyway). I don't eat the same food every day, gatherings don't bother me that much, I don't react that badly to minor lies, and I'd never wash someone's windows without being asked. Adam borders on an idiot savant with his narrow interests and childish incidents. Obviously a milder form would make for a less entertaining story, but I'm left to wonder whether the filmmakers had the next Rain Man in mind or just wanted to keep things simple for their own sake.

Nevertheless, once you accept that someone like Adam exists, whatever diagnosis you'd give, the rest should be pretty credible. While he would try even my patience at times, I can understand why Beth gives him as much of a chance as she does. It helps that she teaches young children and hopes to write for them. When he fails to do something romantic right away (e.g., not hugging until she explicitly expresses the desire), it can somehow feel all the more tender.

The story does not end the way we've come to expect from Hollywood. That's fine by me; we could use an extra dash of reality. The end result may not have the award worthiness of Silver Linings Playbook, but it's more my thing.