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Young AdamRating:
Release Date: 14 September, 2004 Retail Price: $24.96 OUR Price: $8.47 You SAVE: $16.49! Cast: |
Young Adam Reviews
Loses purpose to shock value
I will admit that 'Young Adam' has two things going for it...an eerie mood that works wonders for the story, and flawless acting that elevates this movie past what it deserves. I just finished watching this movie, and while the story itself is decent, it's ruined by the lack of attention it receives. The story of a young man Joe (McGregor) who finds his dead lover face down in the water is intriguing in itself. The story forces the actions of Joe upon all those whom he meets and befriends, especially Les and Ella (Peter Mullan & Tilda Swinton), the couple whom he lives with, working on their barge in Scotland. The movie could have approached this film by picking apart the inner human in these central characters but instead it focus's on an elicit affair between Joe and Ella, showing the two having sex numorus times without any rhyme or reason. In fact, almost 80% of this film is sex related, yet it never really explains what triggered the affair, why Joe has sex with everyone he meets, why Ella prefers Joe to her husband...and most importantly it just skirts around the murder of Joe's ex-lover (Emily Mortimer) only really tackling it at the end of the film. It's not a terrible movie, I just feel they lost it's potential amidst all the shock-antics they obviously felt compelled to do. I normally don't object to sex and nudity, I actually welcome it...but when it takes away from the film it becomes cheap and that's just not entertaining.
Young Adam is a deeply disturbing and depressing film that is not for everyone,
What an emotionless portrayal of an emotionless man. Ewan yet again proves that he is a force in both the Hollywood community and in the independent forum. Not only for having the bravery to go against American cliché and fight to keep his full frontal nudity in the film, but also for having the gumption to take this role. To me there's nothing "young" about this character, he was a mature man that desperately needed to find himself and clear his conscience. This movie should of been called "Lost Adam" or Guilty conscience Adam." The cover of this DVD doesn't serve him any justice.
Joe is not your normal 'hero' or character. In fact, I would go as far as to say he represents some of us. He is, sadly, our 'hero'. Joe (and Ewan portrays this perfectly) is constantly looking for happiness and acceptance, but somehow cannot find it due to the sexual urges that he has. It is interesting to see him want to have emotion, but yet have no issues with sleeping with another man's wife. This is a story of maturity for Joe, but sadly we do not ever see it. When I was watching this film I was continually thinking of the film Alfie (not the new release, but the older) in which a man embarks on several relationships and ultimately ends up with nothing. That is very similar to the story that we have here, only Young Adam is much grittier and darker ... and, well, more explicit.
The plot, what little of it there is, unfolds through character and behavior, with a minimum of dialog. There is much complete silence in this film. There is a quiet suspense, never quite gratified, which begins with the very first frame, a corpse, gently floating, photographed darkly, from below, so dark there is no face. A deceased, faceless female human being. Joe's is the first face we see. That first glimpse of his eyes, told me that nothing would be what it seemed in this film. Joe sees something we do not see. So begins the mystery.
Nothing is jarring, nothing is false. Life is simply never quite what we think it is. Make no mistake. There is a real mystery here to be revealed. Not a contrived, plot dependent series of revelations. It is the unpeeling of the layers of a human being. I haven't told you much about the plot. That is deliberate. The plot works. It reveals the character. The progression of events is true, often surprising, but never false, never contrived.
If you love great acting, by all involved, and appreciate the crafts and arts of film construction, I recommend "Young Adam".
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