While the market for comedydramas about two smack heads searching the streets of Dublin for a hit isn't exactly competitive, Adam + Paul is a quietly impressive piece of work. Written by one of its stars, Mark O'Halloran, Adam + Paul tells of the plight of its title characters - (O'Halloran and Murphy) an inseparable pair of hard up heroin addicts who are fresh out of cash and, more importantly, drugs. Having called in all their favours and still unable to score, the oddly likeable couple stagger around town, trying to find enough money to get high, getting involved in an increasingly surreal search for a man named Clank along the way.
First, the bad news. As a writer O'Halloran occasionally loses focus - a sequence with a Bulgarian man is unnecessary and vaguely preachy - and his determination to never lose the audience's sympathy for these wretched figures leads to occasional narrative implausibility. However, his instincts are good overall and he has an impressive ear for the rhythms of the streets. Aside from the pitch perfect dialogue, the movie drifts along effectively, peppering the increasingly fraught search with a series of comedic interludes. The performances are top notch, too. Though never separately identified in the movie, O'Halloran and Murphy are excellent as the hapless addicts, their desperation believable and pathetic.