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21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Terrific ensemble piece anchored by a strong Kevin Spacey performance, August 12, 2009
Kevin Spacey shines in his portrayal of a Los Angeles psychiatrist, Dr. Henry Carter, who's been hitting the booze and drugs pretty hard in the wake of a personal tragedy. After an intervention by his family and friends falls flat, the doctor's father (also a psychiatrist, and played by the great Robert Loggia), sets his son up with a new patient, a teenage girl named Jemma (Keke Palmer) who has faced a tragedy similar to Carter's, in the hope that the case will help his son re-engage in life and better confront his own grief. Despite seeing right through the plan, Dr. Carter grudgingly takes on the case and it indeed starts him back on a more positive, functional path, though things don't happen easily.
An ensemble cast, mostly playing Dr. Carter's other patients, also slowly get drawn into the main story, either directly or through the comments they make about their own problems during their sessions with Carter. An unbilled Robin Williams is a particular standout in his small but memorable role as a movie star confronting his own personal issues (everyone has them in this movie). Indeed, many of Dr. Carter's patients are in the movie business in some way, bringing about an interesting juxtaposition of intense personal issues on the part of some patients (and Carter) and quirky Hollywood shallowness from others.
"Shrink" is mostly serious, but it's lightened a little by Dr. Carter's wry, dry sense of humor (perfectly brought to life by Mr. Spacey), which the character can't help displaying even when he's hurting and wants to be left alone. Keke Palmer's Jemma is also a ray of sunshine in the film, despite the seriousness of her own issues. And, as previously noted, the occasional Hollywood humor, centering around the often insane world of movie deals and star egos, also keeps things from getting too heavy.
I was lucky enough to see "Shrink" on the big screen during its brief and limited theatrical run (thank you, "Ritz Five" theater in Philadelphia!), and heartily recommend it for home viewing when it comes out on DVD.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Really Enjoyed Kevin Spacey's Return to His Element, December 24, 2009
Kevin Spacey's absence from the big screen in the kind of role we'd taken for granted from him left a big empty space on the silver screen. This is the first time, since his Oscar winning turn in AMERICAN BEAUTY, that I've felt the thrill again of watching a character actor at the top of his game. He plays Dr. Henry Carter, a psychiatrist at the peak of his career in Hollywood, who has been brought low by the suicide of his wife. This is about the worst thing that can happen to a man of his professional calling as it signals his massive failure on every level as both human being and professional. Worse yet, he comes from a family of psychiatrists! As he takes to pot in a major way and sleeps out on his diving board, his family and friends stage an intervention for him and his fury knows no bounds. However, he keeps seeing his patients and, ironically, it is his patients who begin to bring him back to the land of the living. Robin Williams plays one of these patients, a movie star who believes he is a sex addict instead of an alcoholic, parallel to his own real life at this point in time. This film reminds me a lot of Lawrence Kasdan's GRAND CANYON, which I also loved. I recommend this highly.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Shrink" is a really good film., May 31, 2010
"Shrink" has such copious amounts of ethos and pathos that you are completely sucked in. The performances are so nuanced and lived-in that there is such an air of reality to the proceedings. Kevin Spacey gives an incredible performance (one of his best, personally) and the amazing Keke Palmer delivers in spades. The interweaving stories work for the most part, which says a lot for that type of film. Sometimes movies like this can be contrived, and "Shrink" can be, but for extremely fleeting moments. The vignettes are stung together in a way that is only believable for Los Angeles (the ending for sure), and in that it works. The cinematography is inspired (with one hell of a master shot) and is like a whole other character. "Shrink" is not perfect, but either is life and this film is first and foremost a story about life, so I can forgive whatever flaws it may have.
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