Adam

How embarrassing! Here we have a perfectly wonderful romantic setup which depicts two attractive and intelligent young New Yorkers, ostensibly American, but in reality played (beautifully!) by an Australian and a Brit. Can no American actors do roles like this? Aarghhh!

The excellent plot focuses on the problems which surround living with Asperger's Syndrome, so in a brief chat at the theatre last night, star Hugh Dancy ("Confessions of a Shopaholic" and "The Jane Austen Book Club") told us that his main concern was how to depict the physical and emotional side of the character; he relied on other cast members and crew to monitor his accent and correct his pronunciation during the shoot.

He probably didn't get much advice from his co-star Rose Byrne ("Troy" and "Wicker Park") because SHE'S from Australia! (Although you'd never suspect it from her capable Americanese.) Her character is a grade-school teacher who approaches this new challenge with a nice combination of intelligence and sensitivity.

Asperger's Syndrome is sometimes defined as a high-functioning form of autism. A person afflicted with it has, among many other things, difficulty reading body language in others and maintaining eye contact. In this warmhearted movie, a lot of information is conveyed which is both helpful and interesting.

Of course Asperger's isn't the only topic in this movie: Peter Gallagher (working hard since 1952!) is our heroine's father and Amy Irving (working almost as hard since 1975) is her mother. He has been accused of a white-collar crime and she intends to stick by him.

Frankie Faison ("My Blueberry Nights" and "In Good Company") is Adam's sensible (and essential!) friend.

Can you tell that this movie is loaded with people I could root for? What a pleasure!

Writer/director Max Mayer told our screening audience that the main lesson he wants to convey is: Life isn't perfect, so why should you be? Cut yourself some slack!