Adam Resurrected (2008)

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Brilliant and touching

A Disappointing Continuation

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

In Berlin, the Jewish Adam Stein (Jeff Goldblum) is a successful artist that works with his wife and two daughters in a cabaret. During the World War II, Adam and his family are sent to a concentration camp and the cruel Commandant Klein (Willem Dafoe), who was his fan, assigns Adam to become his "dog" to entertain him. Adam has to live like a dog with another dog, Rex, while tries to convince Klein to save his wife and his little daughter that are sent to the ovens. After the war, Adam is sent to a mental institution in Israel for Survivors of the Holocaust under the care of the psychiatric Dr. Nathan Gross (Derek Jacobi) and becomes a leader among the patients. He also has a mistress, the nurse Gina Grey (Ayelet Zurer), who loves kinky sex. One day, Adam smells a dog in the institute, which is forbidden, and he finds a boy that was raised chained in a basement and behaves like a dog. Adam recalls his period as a dog in the concentration camp and gets close to the dog-like boy and their journey together begins. "Adam Resurrected" is a weird film about a man and a boy that have been turned into dog. The strange plot is supported by a fantastic performance of Jeff Goldblum that deserved at least a nomination to the Oscar. Most of the characters are bizarre and this movie is somehow fascinating and seems to be written by a mad writer. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Adam – Memórias de Uma Guerra" ("Adam – Memories of a War")

Intriguing and surreal movie with an outstanding performance by Jeff Goldblum, whose name should have been in the mix for any number of acting awards for this film. Holocaust-related movies generally don't get deliver box office results, but this is a strikingly good treatment that deserves a wider audience. Watch it and get the word of mouth out there.Paul Schrader, whose had a hand in more than a few films about human darkness, creates an intriguing film here. The "arms" scene at towards the end of the film is worth the price of admission on its own. Right up there with "I am Spartacus" or the "I'm still here, you bastards" last line from "Papillon". Powerful stuff. Derek Jacobi, Willem DeFoe, Ayelet Zurer, a frighteningly good Romanian kid named Tudor Rapiteanu, and the rest of international cast do yeoman's work.Always been a fan of Jeff Goldblum's read on a line...and he's at the top of his game in "Adam".

Paul Schrader's latest film concerns Adam Stein, a patient in a mental hospital caring for those who suffered during the Holocaust. Adam was once a great comedy performer known through out Germany. Haunted by the past when he had to act as a dog for the Commandant of the camp as well as play violin for the prisoners as they went into the gas chambers, Adam is just trying to get by. He refuses to deal with his past until a small boy who thinks he's a dog shows up at the hospital.The film is more magical realism than stark reality (Adam has a psychic ability) and is more an allegory of the the struggle of people to survive. It is a Holocaust tale to be sure, but the implications of its themes apply to everyone's life. Are we all not a little mad? Are we all not locked in our own prisons? I'm not sure the film is wholly successful in exploring all of its themes but at the same time it is one huge helping of food for thought.The real find of the film is Jeff Goldblum. Sure we all knew he is a great actor, but I for one never really knew how great he was. Here he goes through every emotion imaginable. He is funny and touching and heart breaking and human. He becomes Adam Stein, disappearing into the role so completely that you stop thinking its an actor and instead see him as the character. Its a masterful performance that unjustly got overlooked by the Oscars.If you want to see a fantastic performance in a dark, but hopeful tale, see this film. It will stay with you.

Jeff acting is great, like always. It's the whole theme of the movie, dark and just a little wacky at times, like getting turned on if the woman barks like a dog. I would totally understand if this movie was based on a true story and the movie is a interpretation of the book or something, but it's not. It's fiction story based on a holocaust survivor. Just makes you think what's going on inside of the head of these writers to write such a fictional event. Relating a human to a dog and getting turned on by watching a human bark like a dog. It maybe disturbing for some, and I see the reason why HowardStern found it disturbing as well.Acting/performance is great, director shot is great. Just a shame so much talent and performance went into a fictional storyline that's a bit on the disturbing side.