Is there any upside in owning American depositary receipts (ADR) instead of owning the underlying stock directly, if that's possible?

Question

American depositary receipts (ADRs) have some fees, their own risks and a few other downsides. Is there any upside in owning ADRs (e.g., AXAHY) instead of owning the underlying stock directly (e.g., AXA), if that's possible (i.e., assuming that one is able to open a brokerage account in the country where the underlying stock is trading and doesn't have issue with currency exchange)?