Customer Reviews

Mumford [VHS]

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In the absolutely charming and touching film "Mumford", Lawrence Kasdan manages to do something uncommon in most films today. He creates a troupe of characters which are complex, dynamic, and full. In today's mainstream slop, where chatacters sometimes rate third underneath facades of plots and special effects, it was so nice to sit back, relax, and get to know the inhabitants of Mumford.

The story itself is never out of control or totally unbelievable. That's because you fall in love with the town and its inhabitants almost from the start. Mumford becomes the community we all want to live in, and not because its a quiet little town, but the people that make up that town. You are drawn in to Mumford's reality, and even in the town's imperfections, you find the happiness that undercurrents everything. Quite amazing feeling tone for a film to create.

Loren Dean pulls off his role as the town's new psychologist with such ease and grace, you yourself wish you could be on his couch. Hope Davis is aboslutely radiant as well, complementing but never outshining her counterpart. A favorite and underappreciated actress of mine, Alfre Woodard, shine and glows in her small but pivotal role.

I highly recommend Mumford. I watched it on DVD and longed for the usual treats that DVD brings, but no director's commentary and very few extra features here. Still, rent or buy Mumford today!

Only in America could a small town be host to three psychologist/psychiatrist practitioners. As an Australian, where it is still shameful to need any kind of mental doctoring, I have long been sceptical of the whole head shrinking profession. Not "L. Ron Hubbard sceptical" but still wary. So it was with some surprise that "Mumford" opened my eyes. Its portrayal of the town's new counsellor makes me want to get therapy. Young Dr Mumford, not to be confused with the town of the same name, is quiet, attentive, honest and tough with his clients. He's more like an old friend than one of Freud's illegitimate offspring.

Strangely, Dr Mumford, (Loren Dean), while the center of the story, is the least unusual character in the film. Typical of Lawrence Kasdan's scripts, the main cast is large and yet well fleshed out. In a way, because we meet most of them within the setting of a psychologist's office, their problems seem more real. At least there, one is expected to lay problems out for an audience. It seems so much more natural than the traditional emotional breakdown or a verbal outpouring to a stranger in a bar.

For the record we get to know a pharmacist with vivid soft-porn fantasies, a wealthy housewife with a shopping compulsion, a tough teenage girl suffering with esteem issues, a fatigued woman forced under the care of her domineering mother and a wealth but friendless inventor who is obsessed with creating a mechanical solution to his loneliness. Even the non-patients are fascinating despite having smaller roles. I particularly like Martin Short's lawyer and Ted Danson's work-a-holic father.

Compared to the other therapists in town, Mumford is a breath of fresh air. He won't put up with [anything] from his clients and it is very enjoyable to watch him kick the local Lawyer out of his office during their first session, apparently just for being a self centered jackass. In another departure from tradition, the Doc makes little attempt to hold his clients confessions in confidence; at least not from Skip, the town's young, eccentric billionaire. But to be fair, Mumford doesn't keep his own secrets from Skip either, and as we find out eventually, his secrets are much more interesting than those his patients reluctantly divulge.

The pace of the film is relatively slow but Kasdan is such a skilled storyteller that I would have been happy if it had never stopped. However, change is inevitable and in Dr. Mumford's case change takes the shape of a winsome yet beautiful patient named Sofie, who has been plagued by chronic fatigue syndrome for years. This is not one of those cookie cutter romances, dropped into the film to keep the female audience happy. As flexible as Mumford's profession ethics are, he can't bring himself to express his growing love for his patient, even after she confesses her feeling for him. It is this dilemma that forces Mumford to take a big step in his life.

"Mumford" is a film for voyeurs and for anyone interested in people. You get the feeling that, Despite their flaws, everyone in the film is worth knowing. Perhaps that is the message Kasdan is trying to deliver. Everybody has a story to tell, if only you dig far enough. And who better to do the digging than a psychologist with his own unique story to tell.

One of the most underappreciated movies of the '90s, "Mumford" is written & directed by Lawrence Kasdan and is both really entertaining and funny. Loren Dean plays a psychologist named Mumford who lives in a small town called Mumford. Mumford is the most popular psychologist in town, although his methods are a bit strange. He tells other people what his clients have told him, he kicks people out of his office and still maintains a level of popularity. Among his patients are Pruitt Taylor Vince (Trapped, Monster) as a man who has film-noirish fantasies in which he sees himself as a large muscular man. Jason Lee (Mallrats, My Name is Earl) as a young billionaire who can't find happiness. Zooey Deschanel (Winter Passing, Elf) as a young girl who's addicted to...magazines. Mary McDonnel as Althea, a woman obsessed with buying things. And finally, Hope Davis (About Schmidt, The Weather Man) as Sofie, a woman suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
While some of these characters are just there, Mumford befriends Jason Lee's character Skip and falls in love with Sofie. Martin Short is also in the film, an extended cameo basically, as a criminal lawyer who was kicked out of Mumford's office and seeks revenge. All the actors are great in their performances; Dean is perfect as Mumford, Lee is hilarious, Davis looks hot which I've never percieved in any of her other movies, and Deschanel is great, but almost unrecognizable. This is truly a delightful movie and I hope that this will inspire someone to see it. It's well made and very funny.

GRADE: A

'Mumford' is one of those movies that just sort of pops out at you. You never expected to see it, but one day you're at the video store, and BOOM! There's a wonderful movie just sitting there that everyone is missing out on. I've seen 'Mumford' maybe three times. And every time I wait to see the long loads of characters as they tell Doc Mumford their problems and you watch as they change. Everyone chages. The reason this movie is so entertaining, is because 1) Doc Mumford is a handsome, compassionate man with a deep secret. 2) There are tons of characters and each one of their stories is interesting. 3) This is the kind of film that makes you love living in small-town America. And writing in a little love story does the movie some good too! But even if the movie hadn't had the little love story, I would still enjoy it anyway, because it's such a funny and heartfelt movie, that you always find some reason to laugh or ever cry! And even if this review doesn't make you want to see it, read the others and see it anyway! Because it's too good of a movie to miss out on.

I'm very impressed how Loren Dean was able to create such a likable three dimensional character in this film. Although the one "villainess" in the town is more or less unexamined, the psyches of the various townsfolk and the main character's exploration of them make for fascinating and insightful fare. Dr. Mumford is a person I would love to know. This movie struck me as one that would be difficult to end without either being disappointing and sad or falsely sweet, and the director/writer struck just the right balance.

Sophisticated, understated, warm and knowing, Mumford is a breezy but ultimately moving testament to the healing power of love. Full of quirky characters and unexpected turns, the biggest surprise is that this never found an audience in the theaters. Not every characterization is note-perfect -- Martin Short is over the top and out of place here, and several of the patient's problems are drawn a bit broadly -- but the central performances by Loren Dean, Hope Davis and especially Jason Lee are extremely winning. In the end the movie leaves you feeling terrific...and sighing that even when they *do* "make 'em like they used to," modern audiences seem to be too overstimulated to notice.

The movie is great, and makes you think.

Do yourself a favor and don't read any of the other reviews, because some give away the big twist in the middle (ruining the movie for you).

Hey, reviewers, don't ruin the movies for everybody. That just isn't nice

THE DVD: DVD widescreen has standard menu. 30 chapters well placed. Both English subtitles and Close Captioned follow audio verbatim. Includes 4min production featurette with comments from Lawrence Kason (the writer, director, and producer) and some of the players. At the beginning of the DVD you can skip or FF 'other-movie' trailers to get to the main menu. Access this movie's theatrical trailer and the other-movie trailers from the menu. No cast or crew biographies.

THE MOVIE: This wonderfully pleasant film has a steady pace and upbeat attitude throughout. It is a good film for both entertainment and as a catalyst for personal growth introspection. Why is it so difficult for us to change ourselves? Sometimes all we need for change is a little help and trust from someone, but then how easy is it to be so engrossed in our problem and forget about the person who is helping us. Then again, our problems sometimes look so simple from a different perspective.

This film has excellent examples of patience, kindness, firmness, and healthy attitudes. Even with a problem one can have a healthy attitude. No matter how bad a problem, everything's okay. If only we could behave towards others like the psychologist Mumford. Maybe what we need is to spend time in a monastery.

This film by Lawrence Kasdan was wonderful! It is the story of a young man named Mumford who is welcomed by the town of Mumford as their new and bright psychologist. He is charming, a good listener, and has a gift when it comes to dealing with all who come to him for help. As a result, everyone trusts him with their most personal situations, they take his advice, and they come back to him when in need. However, it is not too long before we find out that Mumford is not exactly what people see him to be. In fact, he is much more than what meets their eyes.

Although very familiar sounding when it comes to the plot, Mumford will surprize you. It has enough humor in it to satisfy the comedy fan, character developement for the drama cravers, and some powerful moments which will stay with the viewer for some time. What is most fasinating about the film is how it shows just what some people will do in order to erase their past and redeem themselves. Unlike the characters in the thriller genre, Mumford does not use violence to hide his past. Instead, he uses his empathy, compassion and advice for the townspeople to win them over at first; and then to win them back. The town of Mumford comes to love the character of Mumford, and so will you, the audience, after viewing this film.

Although best viewed on DVD, this films story is very enjoyable regardless of how it is shown. Be sure to pick up this winner sometime soon.

I wanted to see "Mumford" in the theater because Hope Davis is one of my favorite actresses (Next Stop Wonderland), but it didn't work out so I did the next bext thing...or maybe the better thing because now I can watch the film more than once for no extra charge...I bought the DVD.

This is a wonderful story about a young man named Mumford (Loren Dean), a recovered drug addict now psychologist practicing in the small town of Mumford. His past is not the plot, only a part of the explanation for personality.

When we first see Dr. Mumford, he is with a patient with a secret fantasy life. We meet many of his patients, who all improve by the end of the film, making the film somewhat like "Pleasantville" except not quite so impossible. Everything that happens in Mumford could happen, but might not all happen in the same small town on or about the same day. Or then it might, if the patients involved had Mumford as a therapist.

Hope Davis plays a young woman suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome that is sapping her strength and making her every move exhausting. She's divorced and has returned to her home towm of Mumford, where she is living with her parents. Her father brings her to see Dr. Mumford and his unique personality and methods help. For ethical reasons, psychologists are not supposed to fall in love with their patients, or if they do should break off therapy. Mumford's attraction to Hope Davis causes him some trouble, but it's only one of the many problems has to solve.

The movie is filled with wonderful characters played by fine actors. In fact, as a fan of BBC productions I was very impressed by the acting abilities of this mostly American cast. Well, it might be mostly American, those Brits have our accents down pat so I can never tell.