Adam at Six A.M.

Plot

Looking like a high-school junior, Michael Douglas plays a college professor in Adam at 6 AM. Tired of academia, Douglas opts for the supposed tranquility of rural Missouri. After working as farm hand for a few weeks, he realizes that his "normal" neighbors are as screwed up as any of his more sophisticated friends. To punch up the film's leisurely screenplay, a great deal of sex talk is injected, which may have sounded daring in 1970 but which plays like an episode of Married: With Children nowadays. Adam at 6 AM is blessed with a superb supporting cast: among the secondary actors is 1940s leading lady Anne Gwynne, making a one-time-only film comeback. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Review

Adam at 6 a.m. wants to be a penetrating character study about a young man at a crossroads, and of the people and the society he encounters while trying to decide which path to take. Unfortunately, for all its good intentions, what it ends up being is a fairly dull look at a not particularly interesting person. Adam is essentially a cipher, a device which tends to work better in a novel than in a film; worse, there are times (too many of them) when he's an unpleasant cipher, causing his constant presence in the film to become wearying. This is primarily the fault of the writers rather than of Michael Douglas; he does a decent enough job with the material at hand. If he then possessed the inner spark that he would develop later in his career, it would have made things a bit better, but not really that much. What gives Adam the strengths it has is its supporting cast, in particular Lee Purcell and Joe Don Baker. Purcell is a lovely, engaging presence throughout, adding little touches of grace to scenes in unexpected ways. Even better is Baker, who is totally convincing and adds fire whenever he appears. Adam at 6 a.m. on the whole is slow going, but these two give it life. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

Cast

• Michael Douglas - Adam Gaines
• Lee Purcell - Jerri Jo Hopper
• Joe Don Baker - Harvey Gavin
• Marge Redmond - Cleo

Louise Latham - Mrs. Hopper; Grayson Hall - Inez Treadley; Carolyn Conwell - Mavis; Dana Elcar - Van; Meg Foster - Joyce; Richard Derr - Roger Gaines; Anne Gwynne - Mrs. Gaines; Charles Aidman - Mr. Hooper; Timothy Blake - Girl at Party; Ed Call - Orville; Ned Wertimer - Dr. Peters; David Sullivan - Leroy

Credit

Dale Hennesy - Art Director, Thomas Schmidt - First Assistant Director, Robert Scheerer - Director, Jack McSweeney - Editor, Robert E. Relyea - Executive Producer, Dave Grusin - Composer (Music Score), Charles Rosher Jr. - Cinematographer, Robert W. Christiansen - Producer, Rick Rosenberg - Producer, Robert E. Relyea - Producer, Robert de Vestel - Set Designer, Glenn Anderson - Sound/Sound Designer, Elinor Karpf - Screenwriter, Stephen Karpf - Screenwriter

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