(2000)
2
Jason Clark
The original title of this distressingly unfunny romantic comedy was All About Adam, thus implying that writer/director Gerard Stembridge intended this to be a wry, wickedly satiric look at double-crossing à la All About Eve. No such luck, as this film is witlessly conceived and doesn't have a satiric or inventively comic bone in its body. The film lumbers on endlessly about its bevy of characters, but never stops to wonder if the audience will care about where they're headed. For no discernible reason, this Irish entry is cast with a very American Kate Hudson and Australian Frances O'Connor, both of whom lose their trademark appeal in woefully underdeveloped roles that do not suit either of them. Similarly, the charming Stuart Townsend is saddled with an unplayable role, never conveying to viewers whether they should like or loathe his character's duplicitous behavior. The picture also fails in telling a deliberately fractured narrative (from several points of view) because the filmmakers already seem so unsteady in the storytelling, resulting in an all-around muddle of a movie. About Adam screened at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival under its original title, only to debut on U.S. screens more than a year later, pointing to a lack of confidence in its acquirer.
About Adam on AllMovie
About Adam (2000)
