Mumford

Rating:
Summary: dull and insulting
Review: Mumford is a film about a "psychologist" who lives in a small idyllic town, and deals with his patients in a way that seems to annoy them but keeps them coming back. Could it be that Loren Dean happens to look like a model? He also has the charm and acting abilities of a model, which is to say none.

Hope Davis steals the show here, although what she was doing in this film is beyond explanation.

The film does not let the viewer get deep inside any of the characters, certainly what should be paramount in a film that deals with human nature, love, and anxiety. Instead we are offered a script that is so obvious I imagined a five year old with a crayon scribbling it down during recess before submitting it to the studio.

Before you settle down with this film expecting a cozy little vignette about relationships be warned, it is chock full of unnecessary swearing and breast flashing. The review I read likened it to a Frank Capra film; well, you're much better off with the real thing.

Rating:
Summary: dull and insulting
Review: Mumford is a film about a "psychologist" who lives in a small idyllic town, and deals with his patients in a way that seems to annoy them but keeps them coming back. Could it be that Loren Dean happens to look like a model? He also has the charm and acting abilities of a model, which is to say none.

Hope Davis steals the show here, although what she was doing in this film is beyond explanation.

The film does not let the viewer get deep inside any of the characters, certainly what should be paramount in a film that deals with human nature, love, and anxiety. Instead we are offered a script that is so obvious I imagined a five year old with a crayon scribbling it down during recess before submitting it to the studio.

Before you settle down with this film expecting a cozy little vignette about relationships be warned, it is chock full of unnecessary swearing and breast flashing. The review I read likened it to a Frank Capra film; well, you're much better off with the real thing.

Rating:
Summary: Bob Seger Got Kasdan's Attention
Review: My theory is that Lawrence Kasdan was so taken with Bob Seger's song Let It Shine he concocted a whole movie to be the video track to the song. He uses this song in the center of the movie and again by someone weird ( Lyle Lovett??) I think as the credits roll.

This movie is about changing one's life. It is about listening to people. It is about lieing. It has a little skate boarding thrown in, too. What more can one ask.

Rating:
Summary: very good movie
Review: One of the most intriguing things to watch actors do is play out scenes with no dialogue. Everything is said with the eyes or the raising of an eyebrow or the gesture of a hand. Kasdan seems to have captured that here and there in this movie. It's nice to see. But, then, there is no movie here, there are no actors here -- all you see are the characters and the story. You don't see the package it comes wrapped in -- only what is inside. Very good --felt good after watching it which is really my only requirement.

Rating:
Summary: Watch this film and call me in the morning.
Review: Only in America could a small town be host to three psychologist/psychiatrist practitioners. As an Australian, where it is still shameful to need any kind of mental doctoring, I have long been sceptical of the whole head shrinking profession. Not "L. Ron Hubbard sceptical" but still wary. So it was with some surprise that "Mumford" opened my eyes. Its portrayal of the town's new counsellor makes me want to get therapy. Young Dr Mumford, not to be confused with the town of the same name, is quiet, attentive, honest and tough with his clients. He's more like an old friend than one of Freud's illegitimate offspring.

Strangely, Dr Mumford, (Loren Dean), while the center of the story, is the least unusual character in the film. Typical of Lawrence Kasdan's scripts, the main cast is large and yet well fleshed out. In a way, because we meet most of them within the setting of a psychologist's office, their problems seem more real. At least there, one is expected to lay problems out for an audience. It seems so much more natural than the traditional emotional breakdown or a verbal outpouring to a stranger in a bar.

For the record we get to know a pharmacist with vivid soft-porn fantasies, a wealthy housewife with a shopping compulsion, a tough teenage girl suffering with esteem issues, a fatigued woman forced under the care of her domineering mother and a wealth but friendless inventor who is obsessed with creating a mechanical solution to his loneliness. Even the non-patients are fascinating despite having smaller roles. I particularly like Martin Short's lawyer and Ted Danson's work-a-holic father.

Compared to the other therapists in town, Mumford is a breath of fresh air. He won't put up with [anything] from his clients and it is very enjoyable to watch him kick the local Lawyer out of his office during their first session, apparently just for being a self centered jackass. In another departure from tradition, the Doc makes little attempt to hold his clients confessions in confidence; at least not from Skip, the town's young, eccentric billionaire. But to be fair, Mumford doesn't keep his own secrets from Skip either, and as we find out eventually, his secrets are much more interesting than those his patients reluctantly divulge.

The pace of the film is relatively slow but Kasdan is such a skilled storyteller that I would have been happy if it had never stopped. However, change is inevitable and in Dr. Mumford's case change takes the shape of a winsome yet beautiful patient named Sofie, who has been plagued by chronic fatigue syndrome for years. This is not one of those cookie cutter romances, dropped into the film to keep the female audience happy. As flexible as Mumford's profession ethics are, he can't bring himself to express his growing love for his patient, even after she confesses her feeling for him. It is this dilemma that forces Mumford to take a big step in his life.

"Mumford" is a film for voyeurs and for anyone interested in people. You get the feeling that, Despite their flaws, everyone in the film is worth knowing. Perhaps that is the message Kasdan is trying to deliver. Everybody has a story to tell, if only you dig far enough. And who better to do the digging than a psychologist with his own unique story to tell.

Rating:
Summary: This is where I want to live...
Review: Something about this movie struck a nerve. I grew up in a small town. They are both beautiful and slightly evil in the way everyone knows everyone else's business. Yet, nothing really feels quite as comfortable and warm as returning home after being gone for awhile. This movie will give you a taste of that.

Mumford may not be for everybody. It is a quiet movie, sometimes funny. There is a little love story, and a half-hearted mystery. Some of the characters are not fully developed, and some of the story seems implausible. However, this is kind of how small town life is. Anyone who's grown up in a small town has seen some strange things. You see, in a city you may hear about many strange things, but in a small town you live them.

Mumford will tug a bit at your heart, leave you slightly warm, and then slowly drift away. But, it's always nice to come back home.

Rating:
Summary: Terrific, underrated comedy
Review: Sophisticated, understated, warm and knowing, Mumford is a breezy but ultimately moving testament to the healing power of love. Full of quirky characters and unexpected turns, the biggest surprise is that this never found an audience in the theaters. Not every characterization is note-perfect -- Martin Short is over the top and out of place here, and several of the patient's problems are drawn a bit broadly -- but the central performances by Loren Dean, Hope Davis and especially Jason Lee are extremely winning. In the end the movie leaves you feeling terrific...and sighing that even when they *do* "make 'em like they used to," modern audiences seem to be too overstimulated to notice.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully pleasant film.
Review: THE DVD: DVD widescreen has standard menu. 30 chapters well placed. Both English subtitles and Close Captioned follow audio verbatim. Includes 4min production featurette with comments from Lawrence Kason (the writer, director, and producer) and some of the players. At the beginning of the DVD you can skip or FF 'other-movie' trailers to get to the main menu. Access this movie's theatrical trailer and the other-movie trailers from the menu. No cast or crew biographies.

THE MOVIE: This wonderfully pleasant film has a steady pace and upbeat attitude throughout. It is a good film for both entertainment and as a catalyst for personal growth introspection. Why is it so difficult for us to change ourselves? Sometimes all we need for change is a little help and trust from someone, but then how easy is it to be so engrossed in our problem and forget about the person who is helping us. Then again, our problems sometimes look so simple from a different perspective.

This film has excellent examples of patience, kindness, firmness, and healthy attitudes. Even with a problem one can have a healthy attitude. No matter how bad a problem, everything's okay. If only we could behave towards others like the psychologist Mumford. Maybe what we need is to spend time in a monastery.

Rating:
Summary: Awww, Crap!
Review: The movie is great, and makes you think.

Do yourself a favor and don't read any of the other reviews, because some give away the big twist in the middle (ruining the movie for you).

Hey, reviewers, don't ruin the movies for everybody. That just isn't nice

Rating:
Summary: Put Mumford on your Map
Review: The writer of "Body Heat","The Big Chill"a and "Silverado" scores with a charming, intelligent, and pleasurable story of people and their relationships. No car chases or gun fights, but just enough sex, and more than enough heart, to ensure a smile of satisfaction when it's over. Hurry to see this movie, you will like it. Good movie, music, actors,writing,direction. Good, good, good.