The NY Times’ Jeannette Catsoulis on Hugh Dancy as Adam:
Playing a character who is mentally disabled can be a fast track to Oscar or to oblivion, and rare is the actor who can resist the statuette-winning, Hanks-Hoffman strategy of mannered tics and mechanical talk. And when you consider that not even Sean Penn could pull it off without making our eyeballs cringe, the performance of Hugh Dancy in the charming romantic comedy “Adam” is all the more impressive.
It’s a strangely short review.
And Huffpo‘s Marshall Fine writes:
It would be simple to cynically dismiss Adam as condescendingly feel-good, but that’s a lazy reading of a film that is full of heart and wit. Give it a chance and you’ll find yourself drawn into this character’s life in ways that will both touch and amuse you.
It’s still too soon to tell how this performance will do overall. But we’re keeping an eye on it.