Shrink

This film is about a psychiatrist who fell into a mess of drug addiction and emotional turmoil after his wife's death.

"Shrink" could have been interesting, as it chronicles the healer's life being wounded. Acting is good, sets are nice and production is good too. However, the pacing is simply too slow. I also find the characters not so engaging. I view their lives, their pains and their struggles, but I don't feel for them. I just don't care about them. This lack of engagement kills the movie for me.

The strong cast and strong acting (especially by Kevin Spacey) failed to translate into a piece of touching cinema. It's a great pity.

The plot is probably realistic, but as nothing catchy is happening most of the time, it becomes annoying soon; well, there are some twists, but they are not surprising or so - bearing in mind the past or present behavior of the characters and the things happened to them. The number of characters is very big and the level of their interlocking is difficult to monitor at times. The cast is strong, but Kevin Spacey's character (Dr. Henry Carter) is still most elaborated and visible on screen; however, it is not among the best roles Spacey has performed. Moreover, there are also good small supporting roles (Robin Williams as Jack Holden, Robert Loggia as Dr. Robert Carter, Henry's father).

I presume it is well accepted in the U.S. where seeing a shrink is almost a regular element of life and success. But the topic and the types were uninviting to me - although I tend to like Sundance movies.

This movie will not satisfy your endless hunger for car chases, explosions and over-the-top joke-every-nine-seconds sitcom dialog. Shrink is a subtly funny drama of depth with real characters in real pain, each coping in their own way. The directing is perfect. This picture called for downplayed artistry...and that's exactly what Jonas Pate delivered. He knew well enough to keep this film grounded and let the characters breathe. And speaking of the characters; they were all beautifully written and performed. I really wasn't familiar with most of the cast...but I felt they all did their character's justice. Spacey wasn't the only one that brought his A-game to the set. Shrink is not a bundle of excitement. It's a beautiful, touching movie that will be enjoyed by any adult with a taste for quality drama.

Shrink stars Kevin Spacey as Henry Carter, a psychiatrist who's fortune and fame just doesn't seem to matter any more after the loss of his wife. Now is the time to cope, and that is something that he just cannot deal with. Instead he goes into a downward spiral of self pity, denial, and drug use.

Basically it is going to take a lot for Dr. Carter to see what he is doing to himself. What unfolds is a Crash-like web of interweaving stories that end up coming together in the end. There is the agent, his taken for granted secretary, the up and coming movie star, the aging movie star, the drug dealer, the distracted and misguided teenager, the young, talented, and undiscovered writer, and of course, the shrink. I might have even missed a character or two.

This film means well. It has some good characters and a good direction of where it is going. The only problem is that it has too much going on. Films like Pulp Fiction and Crash have a lot of characters and subplots going on, but the material is so rich and powerful that is can support big twists, connections, and revelations. This film just doesn't have enough "umph" to get off the ground.

Spacey does a pretty decent job at portraying Dr. Carter. He is mostly deadpan and emotionless, with the exception of a few revealing scenes. Other than that he doesn't show off too much of his skill, just fulfills the role of his character. I was pleased with Robin Williams performance as the aging actor trying to find himself during a late mid-life crisis.

What would have made this film better would be to limit the number of stories going on, following just a few, or maybe even one. I think Spacey's conflict is enough to carry a film. It also would have given him more freedom to explore his character. There is a lot going on under the surface that we only get to see for a little while. I wanted more. I wanted something like in American Beauty where we get to see everything that the character has to offer. It's like watching the metamorphosis of a butterfly. Each stage is so defined and clearly labeled. Here we just see a few rises and falls, and that's about it.

It's a pretty run of the mill indie dramedy with a few laughs here, a few tears there, and nothing really outstanding going on otherwise. I wouldn't say avoid it, but I wouldn't go out of my way to find it. You will not need therapy after viewing this, that's for sure.

This movie has some very good elements going for it, but for me it never comes together in a nice crescendo. Kevin Spacey is very good in my opinion, with a more honest performance that isn't too much like his usual Spacey-ness (you know what I mean if you've seen him in other movies). The rest of the cast is fine too and there's a good bit going on in the movie.

The problem I had was that it seems like it takes forever for anything to happen (and it pretty much doesn't until the very end). There's SO much heavy dialogue followed by solemn stares by the characters that at first you don't mind it because you know it's an emotional film going in, but eventually you just get fed up and can't stop thinking when something, anything will take a dramatic turn.

Unfortunately it just didn't cut it for me. It's not a horrible film by any means, but not quite worth watching in my opinion. With some snappier dialogue or a tighter pace I probably would have really enjoyed it.