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Diminished Capacity (2008)

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All Critics
Top Critics

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: 11
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 8

This low-key comedy about memory loss offers mild pleasures but is too bland to fully resonate.

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Average Rating: 2.6/5
User Ratings: 27,446

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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

Unrated, 1 hr. 27 min.

Comedy

Directed By: Terry Kinney

Written By: Sherwood Kiraly

In Theaters: Jul 4, 2008 Wide

On DVD: Nov 25, 2008

IFC First Take

Sherwood Kiraly's slight script only makes this embarrassment of riches seem more embarrassing.

December 8, 2008 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

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J. R. Jones

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

Alda's Hawkeye Pierce charm gives way to something snappish and cagey, while Broderick's fussy stiffness is perfect.

July 16, 2008 Full Review Source: New York Post

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Kyle Smith

New York Post

Top Critic

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.

July 4, 2008 Comment

Manohla Dargis

New York Times

Top Critic

A mild pleasure from one end to the other, but not much more.

July 4, 2008 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

Striving for low-key character comedy, Diminished Capacity ends up diminishing its returns.

July 3, 2008 Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune

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Michael Phillips

Chicago Tribune

Top Critic

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.

July 3, 2008 Full Review Source: USA Today

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Claudia Puig

USA Today

Top Critic

It's quite easy: either go get a sedative and calm down, dear. Or see this gentle and frankly boring-as-hell movie.

March 19, 2009 Full Review Source: Teletext

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Victor Olliver

Teletext

This Sundance hit is a sleeper surprise of the summer -- a one-of-a-kind original.

November 20, 2008 Full Review Source: Hollywood.com

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Pete Hammond

Hollywood.com

A gentle, agreeable dramedy, Capacity reveals that Kinney has a unique hold on tone and shares a palpable charm with his actors.

July 17, 2008 Full Review Source: BrianOrndorf.com

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Brian Orndorf

BrianOrndorf.com

Suffering from a diminished level of interest, do we know how to live up to a title, or what?

July 15, 2008 Comment

Jules Brenner

Cinema Signals

I wonder if all this worked better as a book. It begins modestly interesting, but becomes merely agitated.

July 10, 2008 Full Review Source: Christianity Today

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Frederica Mathewes-Green

Christianity Today Source: Christianity Today

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?

July 10, 2008 Full Review Source: AV Club

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Noel Murray

AV Club

Although this is no 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off', Matthew Broderick does return to Chicago for a wonderful, wacky little gem.

July 8, 2008 Full Review | Comment

Jeanne Kaplan

Kaplan vs. Kaplan

There is some suspense as to the fate of that baseball card.

July 8, 2008 Full Review | Comment

David Kaplan

Kaplan vs. Kaplan

A slog through determined wackiness, it's apt to leave audiences cold.

July 7, 2008 Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine

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Amy Nicholson

Boxoffice Magazine

Smart and well-written, filled with good lines and just enough offbeat moments to make it interesting, not annoying.

July 3, 2008 Full Review Source: Film Journal International

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Lewis Beale

Film Journal International

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Diminished Capacity

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Hilarious movie by Terry Kinney. A good story plot that follows Cooper (Matthew Broderick) who deals with random memory loss due to an injury from a fight. Cooper is a comic editor who tries to regain all that he had previously before the accident. He returns to his hometown to care for his uncle, and meets uo with his

January 31, 2008