I can see where this movie would be rather difficult for people who have never had an addiction of *any* sort to understand. I however have never actually met *anyone* who has never been touched in some way by addiction...too alcohol, drugs, gambling, shopping, eating what have you...I was once *very* close to where Adam and Paul were...actually I was *exactly*where they were! Thankfully, for me, my story had a much happier ending then theirs but reading the other reviews it was very clear the people who are empathetic for people with addictions and those who are not....you know who you are! I really think if you can get off of your high horse long enough...a mere 83 minutes! You will *Love this movie*!

Everybody in the world ought to know that. Yet there are still people who do. Adam and Paul proves this as well as showing the hopeless deprivation homeless junkies exist in. It's not depressing, unless you're a junkie yourself and are heading in that direction.In the course of one single day, Adam and Paul try to scam their way through hunger, friends and their relentless need for more heroin. They are clueless, zombified and about as dead as living people get. It's hard to feel sorry for them, in fact you'll probably feel as much contempt for them as their former friends (hardly first-class citizens themselves) do when they show up and mooch.If you think your life is crap then you need only to compare it to Adam and Paul to cheer yourself up. And if you were ever tempted by drugs then this film ought to put you off that curiosity.

One of the best films at the Berlinale Film Festival. Gritty, disturbing with doses of black humour thrown in. The characters are likable and the film never dives into emotional manipulation. It's social realism at it's finest, creatively shot and brilliantly acted. Poignant and unforgettable.The dynamics between the two characters are fascinating. Childhood friends, thrown together since age fourteen, living on the streets, without hope, full of despair, Adam constantly berates and yells at Paul but there is above all, a deep, lasting bond between them. They are despicable characters in so many ways, but there is such tragedy in their eyes and so much despair in their bones, and you end up feeling for them, and a certain innate understanding and empathy. They're outcasts with zero future. They're the "pathetic" people we walk past and ignore every day, and, in the film, they mesmerize.Somebody said to me it's like Trainspotting without the humour. I'd say it's like Trainspotting, but without the over the top camera tricks, visualizations and the like. There is more social reality and despair, ala Mike Leigh. There is humour, but on a more subtle level.It sticks with you.

Touted as one of the best Irish films of the year, Adam and Paul was one huge disappointment in my opinion. With other huge titles such as Intermission, Cowboys and Angels and Man about Dog to compete with, this clumsy tale of 2 heroin addicts in inner city Dublin simply does not meet the standard.While the acting was above average (particularly in Tom Murphy's case), the characters simply don't seem believable and the development is weak and slow. Adam and Paul both seem to morph into different characters as the plot permits: One minute they are playing with a toddler while the next they are robbing a handicapped teenager. The storyline is unstructured and tedious to say the least, with plot holes appearing left, right, and center. Meanwhile, the comic relief is dry and certain scenes seem to drift by without adding anything to the story or the character development.Overall Adam and Paul isn't a bad movie but far from the critical acclaim it has been receiving recently. The director Lenny Abrahamson shows good potential however I believe his style would be better-suited to a more aggressive movie, as the long scenes of Adam and Paul seem to drag on behind the passive tone of the movies main characters