Heartfelt romantic comedy "Adam" debuts in Sedona on July 21

Film festival presents Sundance award-winner two weeks before its theatrical release

The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the Arizona premiere of the new romantic comedy “Adam” on Tuesday, July 21. There will be two screenings of the film at 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. at Harkins Sedona Six Theatres. The film is the second in a seven-week “Best of Fest” series presented by the film festival.

“Adam” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January where it received the prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Award and Audience Choice accolades. It has been playing to rave audience and critical reviews at festivals since then. Fox Searchlight, who will be distributing the film, opens “Adam” in New York and Los Angeles in late July.

“This is such a coup for us to get this film nearly two weeks before its release in the major film cities,” said festival director Patrick Schweiss. “It is a delightful feel-good romantic comedy with a lot of heart that is sure to please.”

What happens when you fall in love with someone for whom love itself is an alien concept? In the unconventional romantic comedy “Adam”, the tale of a romance between a bright, sophisticated young woman and a mysterious, sheltered brilliant young man becomes a humor-laced excursion into the riddle of romantic chemistry and the moving ways people find to connect, even when they can’t possibly see the world in the same way.

Romance can be risky, perplexing and filled with the perils of miscommunication - and that's if you aren't Adam, for whom life itself is this way. In this heartfelt film, Hugh Dancy (The Jane Austen Book Club, Confessions of a Shopaholic) stars as Adam, a handsome but intriguing young man who has led a sheltered existence all his life. Then he meets his new neighbor, Beth (Rose Byrne, "Damages," 28 Weeks Later, Knowing). She is a beautiful, cosmopolitan young woman who pulls him into the outside world, with funny, touching and entirely unexpected results. Their implausible and enigmatic relationship reveals just how far two people from different realities can stretch in search of an extraordinary connection.

The film marks the breakout feature film from writer/director Max Mayer, who has directed more than 50 new plays Off-Broadway and around the country, and has also directed for some of television’s most prestigious shows, including “Alias” and “The West Wing.” His inspiration for “Adam” came, rather appropriately, out of the blue. One day, Mayer was listening to the radio when he was suddenly riveted by a story about a man living with Asperger’s Syndrome, an increasingly common form of high-functioning autism that is hallmarked by an inability to read what other people are thinking and feeling. Those with Asperger’s Syndrome can be highly intelligent, even off-the-charts brilliant, but are often socially cut-off because they perceive ordinary human behavior as strange, irrational and even wildly incomprehensible.

It struck Mayer that we all get a dizzying glimpse at that kind of confusion in romantic relationships – when we each become bumbling amateur detectives trying to figure out this total stranger that makes our heart beat faster -- and he couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like for a person who has Asperger’s Syndrome to carry on a romance with someone who doesn’t. The concept seemed rife not only with relatable mishaps but a vivid new way to view the pinnacle of human emotions -- from the fresh perspective of someone who sees emotion differently.

Thus was born the character of Adam. If women are from Venus and men are from Mars, Adam appears to be from another galaxy entirely, but that doesn’t stop him from going after his own, albeit disaster-prone, version of romance with remarkable spirit and courage.

A long-time New Yorker, Mayer wrote “Adam” as a classic Manhattan boy-meets-girl-in-a-building romance – but with a unique twist. After all, this boy and this girl have more than just the usual circumstantial obstacles standing between them; they have the mystery of the human brain itself.

“Adam” is not just an offbeat love story. It’s also very much a New York love story. For Mayer, part of the fun was creating two different views of New York – the bustling city of struggle and opportunity that Beth lives in; and the secret city of hidden nooks and urban wilderness that Adam inhabits. The overall result is a quieter, greener, more elegant Manhattan where love blossoms out of view.

“I grew up in New York and I knew that if you shoot in New York it becomes a character in the movie because the city always encroaches in its own way on the story and you never get perfect conditions,” Mayer notes. “To add to that we have a character who tries to live in a glass bubble in the middle of the city, so it was quite a challenge.”

The title sponsor for the event is Purple People Inc., founded by Sedona residents Susan Broude and Tami Pivnick. The Purple People motto is “honor our differences and cherish our similarities.” Audience members are encouraged to join in the fun and wear purple for the evening.

“Adam” will be shown at Harkins Sedona Six Theatres on Tuesday, July 21 at 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $10, or $8 for Film Sedona members, and will be available starting at 3:00 p.m. that day in the Harkins lobby. Cash or checks only. Film Sedona members can purchase tickets in advance at the Sedona International Film Festival office, 1785 W. Hwy. 89A, Suite 2B, or by calling 282-1177.

Please note: This is a very high-profile film which means that security will be present in the theater to protect from piracy. Cell phones will not be allowed into the theater.

For more information, visit: www.SedonaFilmFestival.com.