writer / director lawrence kasdan had a hand in penning some of the biggest film successes of the 1980s .
yes , that 's right
, he co - wrote raiders of the lost ark ( 9/10 )
, the empire strikes back ( 8 . 5/10 ) and return of the jedi ( 8/10 ) .
now with this film , it looks as though he has decided to test his skills at mediocre screenwriting and bland directing .
and guess what ?
he succeeds once again !
plot : a man with a shady and regrettable past decides to run away and into a small american town , where he pretends to be a licensed psychologist to an open - armed swarm of people with problems .
it is n't long before he befriends the small - town billionaire , folks become suspicious and he falls for one of his own patients .
critique : this film is not a comedy !
it is a drama .
i say this right up front because from the looks of the trailer , you would think that this film secures its base in humor , but unfortunately for us , it does not .
it is a serious film ( seriously flawed if you ask me , but i digress ) which offers a couple of witty quips to keep you awake , but overall , just sits there .
now on to my review .
this movie sucks because it was slow and boring
, starred an uninteresting protagonist with an unbelievable past , included extremely dull patients whose problems left me indifferent at best and
pissed at worst , and certified it all with many a predictable ending .
i have no idea what lawrence kasdan was trying to accomplish with this picture , but whatever it was . . .
he missed !
anyone without his name could never have made this film because it is an extremely generic puff - piece , which on a good day , might be described as predictably digestible .
it 's no wonder that the studio is trying to sell it as a comedy !
it sucks as a drama , and bored my movie cohort right to sleep .
i 've given it four points on four
extremely shallow yet distinguishable marks .
first of all , i could n't help but think about how much the lead actor , loren dean , looked like a young charles grodin .
he even acted like him , save for the dry , sardonic wit .
this kept me interested in watching him at least .
number two , and
this one is really shallow ( seemed to be geared that way as well ) , there were quite a few " titshots " , as they would say back in high school .
and god help me if i ca n't get enough of those in an aimless drama .
and three , and this one surprised me the most , actor ted danson 's cameo ( yes , he will always be sam malone to us real fans !
) was the best part about this movie and actually made me see him as a different person .
a different asshole , but a different person nonetheless .
if ever you rent this movie one day ( promise you wo n't throw away your hard - earned money at the theaters ? ! ) , wait for his scene because it 's actually pretty good .
other than that , drab , drab , drab and drab .
even jason lee , a personal favorite of mine , was left out to dry with lame dialogue and one of the phoniest romances to hit the big screen in a while .
well , at least he finally " came out " and did some real skateboarding in this movie !
oh yeah ,
and i guess that 's the fourth point in my rating .
anyway , if you enjoy watching boring patients babble on about their boring problems to an uninteresting psychologist . . .
this film 's your bag !
otherwise , skip it and see analyze this ( 8/10 ) again .
. .
now there 's a great shrink movie !
little known facts about this film and its stars : " three 's company " fans alert ! ! !
terri from the tv show , also known as actress priscilla barnes , plays a small but pivotal part as the landlady in this film .
the scene is actually a fantasy sequence and does feature cleavage , so stay tuned , kids !
also , it is to note that the actress was once named " penthouse pet of the month " in march of 1976 .
she was known as one joann witty back then .
she 's originally from jersey .
who the hell is loren dean , the dude who plays mumford in this film ?
you got me , but all i know is that he was born in las vegas in 1969 and played the character of billy bathgate in the 1991 film of the same name .
jason lee was born in the state of california in the year of 1971 .
he was a professional skateboarder before his acting career took off after mallrats ( 6/10 ) , and even owns his own skateboarding company called stereo manufacturing corp .
he 's been in every kevin smith film except for clerks ( 8 . 5/10 ) .
listen closely and you will hear the pharmacist in this film
( the ballooning actor formerly known as pruit taylor vince ) make a reference to the " lost ark " , which is obviously an in - joke , considering that it is the writer / director of this film , lawrence kasdan , who co - wrote raiders of the lost ark ( 9/10 ) .
kasdan also played the part of dr .
green in 1997 's as good as it gets
( 8/10 ) .
ted danson also played the role of lawyer peter lowenstein in kasdan 's 1981 directorial debut body heat starring a sexy kathleen turner and william hurt .
Output: N