Director: Lawrence Kasdan
Year Released: 1999
Rating: 1.5
Call it "Kasdan Does Capra." The main character is Dr. Mumford (Loren Dean), a 'psychologist' who tries to help the people of the externally peaceful, golly-gee-shucks town of Mumford ... who happen to be suffering (internally) from a plethora of mental problems (think Blue Velvet without Frank Booth). Here's the thing, though: little of it is remotely plausible. First, the film makes it seem like it's easy to fake being a psychologist by forging diplomas and records and such (it most certainly is not) and how Mumford gets 'found out' as being a fraud isn't exactly clear. Second, none of the subplots of the film (the compulsive spender, the pharmacist with low self-esteem, the computer tycoon who has trouble making friends, the girl with image problems, the kid who likes to carry around a .22, etc.) are fully developed. By the end, each of them is unrealistically cured of their problems, and Kasdan never makes clear as to why or how these individuals with deep-seeded issues just wake up one morning and are able to 'rearrange their lives.' The overall moral, that people just need to communicate with each other more, and that all we need is someone to listen to us, is fine ... it's just the execution is poor.
