Shrink

Director: Jonas Pate Jonas Pate

Overview

A jaded psychiatrist takes on a pro bono case that puts his professionalism to the ultimate test in director Jonas Pate's knowing expos? of the "other" Hollywood. Between sorting through the insecurities of a fading film starlet (Saffron Burrows), a struggling writer (Mark Webber), and an obsessive-compulsive talent agent (Dallas Roberts), A-list psychiatrist Henry Carter (Kevin Spacey) barely has the time to deal with his own problems. Suddenly, into the middle of Henry's malaise wanders a troubled teen who's never even set foot in the Hollywood Hills. This is Henry's first pro bono client, and considering his current state, he's not sure that now is the best time to be taking on more work. While Henry is jaded by Hollywood, his newest patient is obsessed with it. Faced with the challenge of helping a young girl through a particularly difficult time in her life, Henry does his best to remain professional despite harboring some rather serious misgivings during their first few sessions.

Product Details

Release Date:	09/29/2009
UPC:	0031398112846
Original Release:	2008
Rating:	R
Source:	LIONSGATE - 600000-AEC LGE
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:37:00
Sales rank:	54,359

Special Features

Closed Caption; Audio commentary with director Jonas Pate and producer Braxton Pope; On-camera interviews with director Jonas Pate and producer Braxton Pope; Music video - "here" by Jackson Browne; Deleted scenes

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Kevin Spacey	Henry Carter
Dallas Roberts	Patrick
Jack Huston	Shamus
Keke Palmer	Jemma
Pell James	Daisy
Laura Ramsey	Keira
Saffron Burrows	Kate
Robert Loggia	Dr. Robert Carter
Mark Webber	Jeremy
Griffin Dunne	Actor
Joel Gretsch	Actor
Jesse Plemons	Jesus
Gore Vidal	George Charles
Sierra Aylina McClain	Carina
Ada Luz Pla	Teacher
Mei Melançon	Miyu
Andrew Sibner	Richie
Troy Metcalf	O.T.
Kendall Clement	Uncle Jim
Clayton Rohner	Dr. McBurney
Ken Weiler	Jason
Aimee Garcia	Check-out Girl
Mystro Clark	Dr. Morton
Justin Alston	Rio
Brian Palermo	Mitch
Brian Reitzell	Composer
Ken Andrews	Composer

Technical Credits

Thomas Moffett

Jonas Pate	Director
Thomas Moffett	Screenwriter
Dana Brunetti	Producer
Michael Burns	Producer
Braxton Pope	Producer
Sheila Jaffe	Casting
Pell James	Producer
John Saviano	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Jonas Pate's Shrink is a shallow, self-involved exercise in moping. Ensemble dramas don't get more stultifying than this, as a half-dozen characters with ties to Hollywood wallow in their own beautiful grief, luxurious excesses, and pretty flaws. Shrink is founded on the idea that the characters are more interesting because they're celebrities, but that's really just an excuse for writer Thomas Moffett to drape overblown character traits on ciphers. Interestingly, the film's most false character is probably the one who strikes Moffett and Pate as the most true -- a delinquent teenage girl played by Keke Palmer. She's acting out because her mother committed suicide, but how she acts out is the bogus part -- she skips school to watch classic movies in the theater. Movies like Fargo, which are notable for probably having influenced the filmmakers, not for actually having played theatrically after their initial run. This is one example of how Shrink, disguised as a contemplation of emotional pain, is really just a way for the filmmakers to congratulate themselves and other aspiring Hollywood types on their chosen career path. Movies can heal all ills, right? Even while ostensibly condemning the misbehavior of familiar archetypes -- the rock-star director who parties too hard, the sex-addicted movie star, the agent spitting obscenities into his Bluetooth -- Pate is really just reinforcing our collective notion of Hollywood's glamorous sleaziness, which we find compelling in spite of ourselves. That he thinks he's doing something more profound is Pate's greatest form of naïveté. If Palmer's character is the film's most artificial, then Kevin Spacey's is the most insufferable. As the titular shrink, Spacey smokes so many joints, so ostentatiously, that he's barely ever seen without one. If the character had gone scuba diving, Pate would have found a way for him to toke up underwater.