Diminished Capacity

Sometimes all you need to make a story work is an ensemble of interesting and dynamic characters for a loose and flimsy plot to dangle around. Indeed, some of the best and most memorable dramas stay true to this aesthetic and succeed purely on the merits on how well written and layered their characters are developed to be. Coming from a creative force that up until now has stayed mostly within the shadows of Hollywood (director Terry Kinney known more for his acting gigs, and writer Sherwood Kiraly who wrote an episode of "E/R" twenty-five years ago--not to be confused with acclaimed medical drama "ER"), Diminished Capacity at its heart is exactly that kind of film. It's quiet, unassuming and enriched with a few compelling personalities that help move the film past the screen and into your heart; and yet direction Terry Kinney too often shifts the focus—frustratingly so—against those aspects and onto more caricature plotting devices and flat sources of conflict for the more interesting characters. The result is a movie that for the most part provides a heart-warming and softly-sentimental character drama with dashes of romance and comedy for good measure—but also one that too often stoops to tired writing and uninspired segments built to "speed things up".

And yet, Diminished Capacity is a feature that works more when overt plotting is negated to the sidelines and mundane sources of conflict in the form of irritatingly flat antagonists are ignored. At the center of its tale are the characters of Cooper (Matthew Broderick) and his uncle Rollie (Alan Alda), both of whom share disabilities relating to memory despite being several decades apart in age. Under pressure from the bill collectors to meet ends meet, Rollie invests in his nephew to take him to Chicago in order to sell off an extremely rare and valuable baseball card that was passed down to him from his granddad. What follows is a story that delves in and out of the relationship between Rollie and Cooper to mixed effect; there are moments when the bond that both share resonates off screen, and then there are others where there's just so much farce and obtuse chase-shenanigans going on (one of these involving the film's dunderhead irritant in the form of hick Donny Prine) that all nuances and subtlety that makes the couple so interesting is lost. The film's source of comedy works in exactly the same way; there are small moments when laughter is least expected that come of nowhere to amuse and then there's those other sections that are far too obvious and facile to come anywhere close.

Nevertheless, with such a character drama, a high amount of attention is brought upon the actors to successfully establish the traits present between the characters on the script, and for the most part the ensemble do well in this area. Perhaps the strongest and most compelling aspect of Diminished Capacity in fact comes in the form of Alan Alda who plays old forgetful Rollie with just enough comical edge and sweet, nonchalant resolve to really get his character across. With many other actors, it would be easy to slip into a derivative cutout of the "wacky old coot who doesn't know what's going on", but Alda invests enough humanity in his position to give the film its only real source of heft within all the levity. Broderick who has spent the past ten years in between lackluster blockbusters and lending his voice to animated children's movies, isn't quite as engaging as his co-star, but nevertheless fills the role suitably in all that the script asks for. It's a performance that is easily overlooked in favour of Alda's more attentive qualities, but Broderick serves as a fine counterpoint nevertheless.

For all the good that Alda and crew do however, there still remain major faults within the woodwork of Diminished Capacity's frame that only belittle the more serious and tangible aspects of its design. Aside from the hokey antagonists and somewhat banal scenes focusing directly on the hobby of baseball card collecting, there exists a romantic subplot lurking in the background of Kiraly's story that is never developed or capitalized on enough to fully resonate. Of course to most viewers this short-fused inclusion will be a mere perfunctory mishap, but given the amount of focus put on Cooper and his love interest Charlotte (Virginia Madsen), there is nevertheless an empty sense of disappointment left in the wake of such potential untapped. In the end however, that is essentially what the entire experience of Diminished Capacity boils down to; unfulfilled promise. With a terrific cast and some nice characters, Kinney's feature here can be charming and inviting, but only in small doses; the rest isn't quite as sharp and in the end spoils what is an otherwise decent character comedy.

As a minor sidenote to this review I would like to raise the question of why this film was rated as a 15. The BBFC describes the film as containing strong language, and yet the uses are infrequent and mild. Aside from this—there is virtually nothing to suggest anything close to a 15 age rating. Indeed, when a film like Wolverine can get a 12A rating, how does one rightly justify a feature like Diminished Capacity receiving anything more severe? It's sheer lunacy.

• A review by Jamie Robert Ward (http://www.invocus.net)

Essentially you have here a "B" list cast of actors (Matthew Broderick, Virginia Madsen and Alan Alda) - none megastars, but all solid actors - who, as you would expect, put on decent enough performances. The problem with the movie is a story that misses its potential. I acknowledge that I haven't read the book. Maybe this worked better on paper, but on screen this was lacking.

Broderick played Cooper, an editor for a Chicago newspaper who suffers a head injury, and then is called away himself to help care for his uncle (Alan Alda) who's in the early stages of dementia. Madsen is some type of old flame for Cooper with whom he reconnects in his hometown. All three were fine in their roles but this movie had basically two directions in which it could have gone, did a little bit of both and, ultimately, because it had no focus on either, was a disappointment.

This could have been successful as a light-hearted comedy; a humorous look at dealing with the problems of dementia. Alda captured that well; he was believable as a dementia victim, and there were things like his fish-writing obsession that could have made this touchingly funny, but those moments were few and far between. Or, this could have gone the route of emotional drama, as we watch Alda's character of Rollie (and those around him) deal with his decline, but again those moments were few and far between. There was a moment when I thought the movie had made a choice - the very powerful scene when Rollie is missing and Cooper finds him in anguish in the bathroom at the card show; lost, confused and embarrassed at what's happened. But that moment also gets lost. Instead of that, the story focuses for some reason on the old baseball card - a 1909 Cubs card that Rollie's grandfather gave him as a keepsake and that he now wants to sell. Even that could have been touching enough, but the card ends up being used primarily as a prop for staging slapstick humour, especially the ridiculous "fight" scene at the end of the movie.

Also burdened with unnecessary characters (especially Donny, but even Madsen's Charlotte to an extent) this was really a disappointment. 3/10

I found this DVD at a garage sale and I was shocked that I never heard anything about this movie. A killer cast with horrible cover art. The story was wonderfully quirky. I cared for the characters and was fascinated by the plot complications. There was a nice combination of humor and sadness. The story of country folks trying to survive in the big city of Chicago was a nice touch. I loved the real Cubs footage and could feel the pain of some of the fans portrayed in the film. I once loved baseball and I would imagine any true fan would get a kick out of the real baseball references throughout the film. Overall a satisfying surprise

Maybe Diminished Capacity isn't "all that and a bag of chips," as a friend of mine is fond of saying. But I'll tell you what, it's pretty funny. I think I heard more laughing than anything I've seen at Sundance since Napoleon Dynamite and Little Miss Sunshine. That bodes well for the box office prospects of this film.

Alan Alda gives a terrific performance as Rollie Zerb, a small-town Missouri old-timer with Alzheimer's, who lives with his sister (and some hilarious but unidentified guy named Wendell in a trailer by the house). They are visited by Cooper (Matthew Broderick), who arrives at his mother's request to help talk Uncle Rollie into a nursing home. Cooper has mental problems of his own, due to a recent concussion. While back in town, he runs into Charlotte (Virginia Madsen), his high school sweetheart who is recently divorced from the town mayor. And somehow Rollie, Cooper, Charlotte and her son wind up heading to Chicago, where they are going to try to sell Uncle Rollie's rare baseball card of Frank Schulte, from the 1908 Chicago Cubs (the last Cubbies team to win the World Series!).

Broderick is solid, in his awkward, understated way. Madsen is the straight woman. But Alan Alda makes the movie as Uncle Rollie, and dominates the screen in almost every scene. And yes, if you squint you'll see shades of Hawkeye Pierce, but his Rollie character is a complete departure from anything he has done in the past, and probably his best comedic performance since MASH.

The script is very well-written, if a bit awkward at parts, and under the direction of veteran actor Terry Kinney, the action moves along briskly. There is probably more tension than there needs to be, which doesn't really fit. But when you're not wincing, you're generally laughing. There are some hilarious lines, and a plenty of feel-good vibe. Everyone will like this movie.

Sundance Moment: Broderick was much better on stage than I would have expected. He was there with his wife, Sarah Jessica Parker, whose movie Smart People had premiered at Sundance the night before. Alan Alda was charming as well. Bobby Canavale was in two movies playing at Sundance this year, the other being The Merry Gentleman.

This film is about a journalist with post concussion syndrome and his demented uncle on road trip to sell a precious baseball card.

"Diminished Capacity" is surprisingly engaging. The plot is well written, even tiny details are attended to. It has that special charm to engage viewers. The characters are all likable and authentic, and I really care about them. Alan Alda is amazingly convincing as a demented person. Little by little, his dementia is portrayed beautifully, from the burnt bacon to misplacing the card. One annoyingly implausible thing though, is why would no one help in the fight at the end. That dampens the credibility of the plot, but on the whole it is well written and executed.