Shrink

I was flipping through all the movies on demand and found one called Shrink. I looked at the info, and it stars Kevin Spacey, Robin Williams, and a few other people. I have liked many things that Spacey has been in, of course the Usual Suspects, Glen Gary, etc., KPax, and the Men Who Stare at Goats, so the guy has a good track record for picking interesting roles.

In this movie he plays shrink to the stars, whose wife recently killed herself. His character is self medicating with marijuana, which is ok in California, where the movie is set. The other characters are mostly his patients and what they are up to in their lives. There was a powerful agent (probably the most interesting character other than the main), a young black girl whose mother also just committed suicide, a writer that wants to be Spacey's patient, but is his god son through marriage or something like that. Also, one of the characters is Spacey's pot dealer, named Jesus. The young black girl, Jemma, was a pretty interesting character too, she's a movie lover, and one of the things she did with her mother was go to the movies. Also, the movie is set in the Hollywood Hills. Having wandered around Hollywood a little bit, it was kind of neat to see that neighborhood shown off a little.

This movie was filled with dark humor. For example, Spacey's character has just written a self-help book about making yourself happy, yet he is miserable because of his wife's suicide.

I enjoyed the movie and it did make me tear up a little here and there. Of course Spacey's character helps the other suicide victim cope with her loss, and comes to grips, as well as one can, with his own loss of his wife. He stops self medicating and moves on with his life.

I do not even remember hearing about this movie. I do not remember seeing one advertisement for it, trailer, etc. So, this movie was a find for me. It is the type of situation I really enjoy, not knowing anything about a movie, just giving it a chance, and liking it. But if you aren't going to give a Kevin Spacey movie a try, then you probably don't like movies. Sometimes movies are over hyped and they show you all the interesting stuff in the previews and commercials, then you see the movie, and are left feeling like you've already seen the good parts 30 times already, so it ends up being a little boring. But usually I at least hear about a movie, this one I didn't hear a thing about, but I am glad that I found it.