The Adam Project's Deleted Mother Scene Would've Made The Movie Better
Netflix has released a deleted scene from The Adam Project that would have made the movie better. The second of three collaborations between director Shawn Levy and Ryan Reynolds, the time-travel romp had a successful premiere on Netflix as its third-highest debut of all time. Along with high viewing numbers, the movie received generally positive reviews for the sweet story that focuses on the relationship between the titular Adam (Reynolds as the adult version and Walker Scobell as a child) and his parents.
Netflix released two deleted scenes from The Adam Project that each build on this relationship, although in different ways. The more effective of these scenes centers on a tense interaction between young Adam and his mother (Jennifer Garner) in their kitchen. In the scene, Adam’s mother, Ellie, tries to be kind to him only to receive rude answers in response to everything she says to him. Growing weary, she suddenly lets him know how she has struggled through grieving the death of his father (Mark Ruffalo, known best for his role as the Hulk in the MCU) despite the brave face she usually wears.
The scene was originally positioned to come following a scene in which the adult Adam has a conversation with Ellie in a bar while she is unaware of his identity. He advises her to talk to his younger counterpart about what she is going through. In finished form, the kitchen confrontation comes prior to the bar conversation between adult Adam and his mother, but The Adam Project would have been slightly better if the deleted scene had been left intact, partially for the character development it offers, and partially as it lends the ending of the film more catharsis.
The deleted scene builds a bridge between Adam and his mother that isn’t established in many other scenes in The Adam Project. The movie has several other scenes in which Adam is rude to his mother, but none where she confronts his disrespectful attitude. Adam seems affected by Ellie’s vulnerability in the kitchen confession brought on by the time-traveling adult version of her son, which would move him to be more compassionate towards her. Adam seems to jump straight to apologizing without truly understanding how he has hurt her through his poor treatment.
The removal of the scene also renders the bar conversation between adult Adam and his mother less effective. Garner and Reynolds carry the scene well, making it one of the more impactful scenes of the movie. The finished film doesn’t include the follow-up of Ellie putting adult Adam’s advice into practice, and including the scene would have made it even better. Deleting the scene removed an important building block from the mother-son relationship through the course of The Adam Project. Although young Adam and Ellie share a hug and reconcile at the end of the movie, the emotional journey is diluted with the loss of the scene.