Jimmy P.

Each of us springs from cultures that form our worldview, guide our behavior, create our sensibilities. But non-whites, especially, are coerced into discarding that identity and, through acculturation, becoming someone that they really aren't, someone who, over time, can no longer understand why they dream of a bear, a fox, and a baby and what in the world those images mean. An early scene in Jimmy P shows a white doctor asking Jimmy to respond to a picture he's shown of some white demonic guy with a knife in what looks like an operating room. Jimmy can't free associate anything from that picture. Not because he's crazy, but because it's meaningless to him. But later he can uncover meaning in a dream that includes a bear, a fox, and a baby.

Over a generation or two, Jimmy has lost many connections to his own past and cultural traditions. Although he can still sense them, he can't interpret them as they relate to his own psychological issues. He's broken laws that the dominant cultural doesn't regard as criminal at all. Not understanding this, he punishes himself even though freed by a white court of law.

Although Thunderheart may have been more entertaining, Jimmy P is enlightening about the psychic damage that happens when cultural and ethnic peoples are punished for who they are and made to ape other cultures to become accepted.

It's one of those movies that you have to sit down and watch; you cannot go and cook some spaghetti while you're watching it, you have to pay attention. You can feel a rise in the film's soul as you watch it display fine cinematography, good performances and almost perfect pacing. The film runs at an exact length, never feeling too long or too short altogether, and the scenes run through as one scene, as how most movies should be. The dream sequences in this film are my favourite, them being surreal beings with meaning the main character attempts to understand. The main character, Jimmy Picard, tells his tragic past in a fashion only talented actors could pull off, and it makes you realize why Benicio Del Toro was cast out of all the actors that are around. I think you'll enjoy this a lot, especially if you're a fan of a good drama.

JIMMY P. is structurally a mess. Director Arnaud Desplechin is never quite sure what he wants the film to say: whether it comments on the status of Native Indians in postwar Amerıca; the suspicious status of much activity going under the name of psychology; life in institutions based on locking people up and asking questions later; or asking us to reflect on the fine dividing line between madness and sanity.

The plot is a straightforward one: Jimmy Picard (Benicio Del Toro), a Native Indian veteran of World War II, suffers from terrible headaches. Confined to an institution, he comes under the care of maverick psychologist Georges Devereux (Benicio Del Toro), who nurses Picard back to health through a series of insistent questions while probing deeply into his sexual past. There is only one snag: Devereux's background is equally shady; he might or might not be a practicing psychiatrist, and he himself undergoes therapy at the end of the film.

Shot in atmospheric colorlessness, the film recreates a world where anyone differing from racial or psychological norms - as constructed by whites - is automatically identified as deviant, and hence not worth treating. It is only due to Devereux's persistence that Picard recovers at all; and even then, the psychiatrist has to browbeat the institution's director Dr. Menninger (Larry Pine) into agreement.

The actual process of recovery is perfunctorily handled; while the racial themes become lost in a convoluted subplot involving Devereux's friend Madeleine (Gina McKee), Howard Shore's musical score is unnecessarily intrusive, its syrupy fat chords directing attention away from Picard's soliloquy describing his mental state, almost as if director Desplechin was under the impression that viewers could not concentrate on words alone.

The ending is equally unsatisfactory, as we have no idea what will happen to Picard, once released from the institution. He vows to see his family, but the potential traumas presented by the workaday world after such a long time spent in confinement are simply left unexplored. In many ways JIMMY P. is something of a wasted opportunity to make a comment on discrimination and its consequences in America's past.

"Jimmy P." is an unusual film for many reasons. Although the film's star Benicio Del Toro is a pretty hot commodity in films these days, this Oscar-winning actor decided to take a very different sort of part in this film. In the last year, for example, he's been in a couple HUGE Hollywood films--"Thor: The Dark World" and the recent mega-hit "Guardians of the Galaxy". But "Jimmy P." is a much smaller sort of film--one with very modest pretenses and which is not exactly the sort of film the average viewer would enjoy. My assumption is that he just liked the role and it offered him a good chance to act without all the special effects and eye candy of a typical film. Regardless, it is interesting and worth a look--particularly if you are interested in the history of psychotherapy.

When the film begins, a WWII vet, Jimmy Picard (Del Toro) has come to the VA hospital because of the intense pain he's been feeling. However, despite many, many tests, the doctors can find nothing physically wrong and eventually one of them suggests his problems might have a psychological basis. In a wise move, the psychologist at the hospital suggests they find a psychotherapist who has a background in anthropology so that they can address not only Jimmy's emotional problems but see this in the context of his American Indian heritage. In other words, perhaps there are problems specifically related to this ethnic background. So, the hospital goes searching for such a man and they enlist the help of a French therapist, Georges Devereaux (Mathieu Amalric). Much of the film consists of the therapy sessions between Devereaux and Jimmy and focuses on the insights that they learn and the progress he makes.

As far as the history of psychotherapy goes, this is a fascinating film. And, since I used to be a psychotherapist and teacher (teaching psychology among other subjects), I was familiar with the analytic bent of therapy in the 1940s and wasn't surprised at the way therapy was portrayed in the film. Its focus on sex, repression, free association and the like were BIG back then, though today this is not at all typical of counseling sessions which are now much more problem-centered and short-term in nature. Plus, today, most therapists believe that more than just sex is behind all our emotional problems. This is NOT a criticism at all--just an observation and to let you know that the style of the meetings between the Jimmy and Devereaux are not at all typical of what you'd find today. To me, this was pretty interesting--and, yes, I know for the average person this isn't exactly exciting stuff. What is pretty exciting, however, is the nice, gentle sort of acting you see here. Del Toro and the rest of the cast did a very nice job and the movie is an interesting slice of life movie. But, unfortunately, a lot of folks probably wouldn't rush to see this sort of realistic story as there aren't many 'exciting' portions to the film--just a decent little story.

Finally, Benicio Del Toro is a fine actor and he did a fine job in "Jimmy P."--but, I do wonder why the filmmakers didn't hire an actual American Indian to play this role instead of a Puerto Rican American? After all, there probably aren't many opportunities for members of various American tribes to act in films and this might have been a nice chance to give someone a chance to play the role intended for an American Indian. While no one would ever think of having a white person play a black in films these days, it's still surprising to see which actors often play Asians and American Indians in films. I also noticed that lots of supporting parts were played in Jimmy P. by American Indians--perhaps one of them might have been cast in the lead.

watched it cause it was on TV and I was browsing around and just wanted to see what Benicio was up to. I knew the French guy as well cause I'm being a girl like that so I figured its some sort of indie movie going on. It was nothing glorious about his injury and if you didn't deal with existential angst and having to be honest with yourself and face the mistakes you made ... and the situations that tormented you in the back of your mind there's no point in watching it. Nobodys perfect and there's no way in hell that hes going to make some majestic awesome magical choices that's going to blow your mind :)) and the end is not all happy superlucky cause lifes not like that. you just go on living and have more pain inflicted upon you and find ways to cope with it like watching way too much TV or alcohol and so on..