Directed by Jonas Pate
Starring Kevin Spacey, Keke Palmer, Robin Williams
110 minutes
Opens July 31, 2009
**** stars out of five
Henry Carter (Kevin Spacey) is a troubled pot smoking Los Angeles shrink. With a recently published best-selling self-help book, he is as famous as some of his celebrity patients. Carter has his own personal issues, including his wife’s suicide, but things start to shake up when he reluctantly agrees to take on a pro bono case of a distressed teenage girl (Keke Palmer).
Why See It?
With its colourful cast and clever script this comedy is like reading a series of tabloid stories all woven into one storyline guaranteed to conjure up some laughs.
The movie’s strength lies in its amusing mosaic of characters. The lineup of insecure Hollywood types includes an obsessive-compulsive talent agent (Dallas Roberts), his pregnant assistant (Pell James), a once top film actress (Saffron Burrows), an anxious young writer (Mark Webber), a drugged-out film director (Jack Huston), an actress (Laura Ramsey) determined to sleep her way to the top and a sex addict/alcoholic (Robin Williams). Kevin Spacey’s performance alone makes the movie worth watching as he staggers through each day with a caseload of crazies.
Shrink is driven by a chain of mishaps and coincidental meetings which keeps the plot moving along effectively. The plot starts to thicken when the anxious young writer steals the teenage girl’s file from the shrink’s office – he hastily writes an amazing script which eventually lands on the talent agent’s desk. It is definitely worth the cost of admission to find out how the storyline spins and twists.