Today’s Prayer Focus

Shrink

MPA Rating: R-Rating (MPA) for drug content throughout, and pervasive language including some sexual references.
Moral Rating: not reviewed
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience: Adults
Genre: Drama
Length: 1 hr. 50 min.
Year of Release: 2009
USA Release: July 24, 2009 (2 theaters—NYC/LA)
DVD: September 29, 2009
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Relevant Issues
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DEPRESSION—Are there biblical examples of depression and how to deal with it? Answer

What should a Christian do if overwhelmed with depression? Answer

Drunkenness in the Bible

FEAR, Anxiety and Worry… What does the Bible say? Answer

Why does God allow innocent people to suffer? Answer

What about the issue of suffering? Doesn’t this prove that there is no God and that we are on our own? Answer

Does God feel our pain? Answer

ORIGIN OF BAD—How did bad things come about? Answer

Is Jesus Christ the answer to your questions?
Discover the good news that Jesus Christ offers
Paradise or Pain? Why is the world the way it is?
Why is the world the way it is? If God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and loving, would He really create a world like this? (filled with oppression, suffering, death and cruelty) Answer
Click here to watch THE HOPE on-line!
Discover God’s promise for all people—told beautifully and clearly from the beginning. Discover The HOPE! Watch it on Christian Answers—full-length motion picture.
Hollywood
What do Hollywood celebrities believe about spiritual issues? Find out

Why is there a disconnect between Hollywood and the rest of America? Answer

What is being done to change the values of Hollywood? Answer

Featuring Kevin Spacey, Robin Williams, Mark Webber, Keke Palmer, Saffron Burrows, Jack Huston, Pell James, Laura Ramsey, Dallas Roberts, Robert Loggia, Gore Vidal, Jesse Plemons, Rakefet Abergel, Derek Alvarado, Ike Barinholtz, Damian Cecere, Kendall Clement, Griffin Dunne, Robert Farrior, Joel Gretsch, Sierra Aylina McClain, Mei Melançon, Troy Metcalf, Joe Nieves, Mina Olivera, Brian Palermo, Philip Pavel, Clayton Rohner, Richard Schimmelpfenneg, Andrew Sibner, Yoni Tabac, Ryan Van de Kamp Buchanan, Pleasant Wayne, Ken Weiler, Ilya Jonathan Zaydenberg
Director Jonas Pate
Producer Ignite Entertainment, Ignite Productions, Ithaka Entertainment, Trigger Street Productions, Dana Brunetti, Pell James, Kelly MacManus, Alex Plapinger, Braxton Pope, John Saviano, Kevin Spacey
Distributor Distributor: Roadside Attractions. Trademark logo.Roadside Attractions, a division of Lionsgate Films

“The doctor is out.”

Here’s what the distributor says about their film: “What happens when the people we count on to hold us together… are barely holding it together themselves? Jonas Pate’s ‘Shrink’ is a striking, fast-paced exposé of the ‘other” Hollywood, featuring folks living outside their comfort zone and the people who put them there.

Henry Carter (Kevin Spacey) is a psychiatrist with an A-list clientele, including a once-famous actress (Saffron Burrows), an insecure young writer (Mark Webber), and a comically obsessive-compulsive superagent (Dallas Roberts).

Henry is not in a good place, however. He has been asked to take his first pro bono case, a troubled teenage girl from a neighborhood far from the Hollywood hills. Considering his present state of mind, is he ready for the real-life troubles of a young woman who loves the world of movies he has become so jaded by?

At its core, ‘Shrink’ is a study of control and our endless need for it, even when it grows increasingly impossible to obtain. Writer Thomas Moffett uses classic archetypes in this modern Hollywood tale, but never pushes them over the edge of credibility. Performed by a well-matched cast at the top of their form, the result is both satisfying and exhilarating. Watching ‘Shrink’ makes us feel like voyeurs looking through a window into the lives of people who look great, feel worse, and end up behaving badly.”

Volunteer reviewer needed for this movie

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.


Viewer CommentsSend your comments
Positive

none

Negative
Negative—A collage story about the life of an LA psychiatrist, whose wife committed suicide. He slips into addiction gradually and the drugs nearly take his life. The life of his patients is also mixed into the storyline. Acting is very good, but movie quality is poor. Intermittent stories, linked in a very abstract way, which is often very hard to follow.

Lots of foul language, the f-word is said every 10 or so seconds. The bright spot of the movie: one is immersed in atmosphere of dysfunction and can really empathize with the inner sufferings of the Hollywood crowd. Human pain, feeling contrite and willingness to change one’s life against impossible odds—make the movie of at least some value.

Bottom line: I don’t see why I would watch this movie again. Cannot recommend it to anyone.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 2½
Jay Smith, age 41 (Canada)
Movie Critics
…the vacuous nature of some of the characters—Patrick, notably, with his vile combination of neurosis and cruelty—seem to have no point. Or none for anyone outside psychiatry or the film biz. There must have been a carrot behind the stick that got all these folks together—perhaps Pate’s agreeable nature. Actors are allowed to vent their inner ham to their heart’s content. …
John Anderson, Variety
…Kevin Spacey brings another of his cynical, bitter characters to life—very smart, and fresh out of hope—but the movie doesn’t give him much of anywhere to take it. … “Shrink” contains ideas for a film, but no emotional center. A group of troubled characters are assembled and allowed to act out, not to much purpose. …
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
…A ridiculous twist of fate, without a feel for reality… the lives of half a dozen characters intersect in ways that are serendipitous and ridiculous…
Gary Thompson, Philadelphia Daily News
…A pity-party of Hollywood narcissism… Deploying a succession of narrative coincidences that not only strains credulity but actually breaks credulity into shards of far-fetchedness…
Steven Rea, The Philadelphia Inquirer
…Our diagnosis? Narcissism… What all these people really suffer from, however, is a terminal case of the self-pity blues. The more Shrink tries to get you invested in the emotional turmoil of its characters, the more you want to reach into the screen and shake them and tell them to get over themselves. …
Rene Rodriguez, The Miami Herald