Diminished Capacity (2008)
Average Rating: 5.3/10
Reviews Counted: 31
Fresh: 11 | Rotten: 20
This low-key comedy about memory loss offers mild pleasures but is too bland to fully resonate.
Average Rating: 4.9/10
Critic Reviews: 13
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 9
This low-key comedy about memory loss offers mild pleasures but is too bland to fully resonate.
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Average Rating: 2.7/5
User Ratings: 27,543
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Movie Info
Author Sherwood Kiraly pens the screenplay adaptation of his own comedic novel concerning a man (Matthew Broderick) who gets amnesia after suffering a blow to the head and the road trip he embarks on with his Alzheimer's-afflicted uncle (Alan Alda) and high-school sweetheart (Virginia Madsen). Convinced that they will make a fortune by selling an ultra-rare baseball card at a high-profile memorabilia show, the trio sets out on the open road in search of adventure. Bobby Cannavale and Lois Smith
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Cast
-
Matthew Broderick
Cooper -
Virginia Madsen
Charlotte -
Alan Alda
Uncle Rollie -
Dylan Baker
Mad Dog McClure -
Louis C.K.
Big Stan -
Bobby Cannavale
Lee Vivyan -
Lois Smith
Belle -
Ernie Banks
Himself -
Jimmy Bennett
Dillon -
Jeff Perry
Casey Dean -
Tom Aldredge
Wendell -
P.J. Brown
Reese -
Michael Wright
McCormick -
Jim True-Frost
Donnie Prine -
Ray Thomas
Gordy -
Christopher Bauer
Lloyd -
Bhavna de Montebello
Doctor Gupta -
Heidi Neurauter
Irene Sasso -
Carolyn Baeumler
Diane McClure -
Doug Bost
Customer -
Jack Sabato
Troy Bannister
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All Critics (32) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (11) | Rotten (20)
Sherwood Kiraly's slight script only makes this embarrassment of riches seem more embarrassing.
Alda's Hawkeye Pierce charm gives way to something snappish and cagey, while Broderick's fussy stiffness is perfect.
The actors look as if they're having a reasonably fine time, but there's no sense of commitment here, no sense that this was a movie that absolutely, passionately had to be made.
A mild pleasure from one end to the other, but not much more.
Striving for low-key character comedy, Diminished Capacity ends up diminishing its returns.
It has moments of sweetness, but not enough poignancy or wit to turn it into the endearing art-house comedy that it aspires to be.
It's quite easy: either go get a sedative and calm down, dear. Or see this gentle and frankly boring-as-hell movie.
This Sundance hit is a sleeper surprise of the summer -- a one-of-a-kind original.
A gentle, agreeable dramedy, Capacity reveals that Kinney has a unique hold on tone and shares a palpable charm with his actors.
Suffering from a diminished level of interest, do we know how to live up to a title, or what?
I wonder if all this worked better as a book. It begins modestly interesting, but becomes merely agitated.
Didn't we invent film festivals so we could sequester all the star-studded 'how I spent my summer vacation' indie film projects and keep them out of our arthouses?
Although this is no 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off', Matthew Broderick does return to Chicago for a wonderful, wacky little gem.
There is some suspense as to the fate of that baseball card.
A slog through determined wackiness, it's apt to leave audiences cold.
Smart and well-written, filled with good lines and just enough offbeat moments to make it interesting, not annoying.
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