Joe's drifting is less a matter of destiny, just desserts, or even will, than it is random, a series of accidents that might just as easily have gone another way.
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05/18/04
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Young Adam (2004)
62
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:114
Fresh:71
Rotten:43
Average Rating:6.3/10
Consensus: A grim mood piece with good performances from the leads.
Theatrical Release:Apr 16, 2004 Limited
Box Office: $668,585
Synopsis: YOUNG ADAM is David McKenzie's adaptation of Scottish Beat writer Alexander Trocchi's cult novel, a romantic murder mystery set on a barge in the canals of Scotland. Lovely photography by Giles... [More]
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Tilda Swinton, Peter Mullan, Emily Mortimer
Director: David Mackenzie
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Reviews for Young Adam
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05/14/04
It's a diversion, well crafted by Mackenzie from a book by Alexander Trocchi, but little more than that.
05/14/04
Top CriticMackenzie and cinematographer Giles Nuttgens beautifully capture the torpor, both sexual and economic, of post-war, Scottish, working-class life.
05/14/04
A compelling if singularly sour tale of a young man's moral paralysis.
05/14/04
Top Critic... who thought raw sex could be so boring?
05/13/04
The ever-mesmerizing McGregor delivers the most complex performance of his career.
05/13/04
Top Critic...one of those allegedly profound statements conveying the agonized boredom of our tortured existence -- by being as agonizingly boring and tortured as humanly possible.
05/12/04
The pacing is as sluggish as the Scottish canals that serve as its setting.
05/07/04
Ewan McGregor flashes his fanny, but otherwise this glum British drama has little to reveal.
05/07/04
Young Adam has been made with the unhurried calm of a barge moving through the water but, like that water, there's a lot going on under the surface.
05/06/04
The film's viewpoint on these sad characters and their sordid behavior has an allure that's hard to refute.
05/06/04
Probing character study takes its time getting below the surface, but, once there, it's well worth the journey.
05/02/04
Just left me wanting a shower.
05/01/04
[McGregor's] best film work so far.
04/30/04
[Swinton's] rich, compelling performance is reason enough to see this uneven picture.
04/30/04
Top CriticA compelling study of conscience.
04/30/04
Unfolds quietly without providing many ways for the material to engage viewers.
04/30/04
Top CriticThis is an almost Dostoyevskian study of a man brooding upon evil until it paralyzes him.
04/30/04
Top CriticAll actors who thrive on their likability seem destined to try at least one thoroughly unlikable role, and Ewan McGregor has found his with `Young Adam.'
04/30/04
Latest News for Young Adam
August 27, 2007:
RT talks to Hallam Foe helmer David Mackenzie
The Brit director introduces us to his "teen gothic fairytale." More...
August 26, 2007:
RT-UK's What to Watch at the Edinburgh Film Festival
Rotten Tomatoes UK heads up north to take in the sights and sounds of the Edinburgh Film Festival. And as the celebration of cinema draws to a close we present what's hot and... More...
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