Diminished Capacity (2008)

I actually liked this film. It's a light-hearted look at people suffering from reduced mental capacity (memory loss, lapses in judgement) due to aging (portrayed by Alan Alda), or from post-concussion syndrome (portrayed by Matthew Broderick).The main characters played their characters very well. Alan Alda especially did a remarkable acting job. Bravo Alan! I'm going to have to dig through the archives and see your earlier works as well. Very convincing as the elderly gentleman who's slowly losing his marbles while retaining a very charming outlook on life.The storyline is quite simple. You're not watching this movie for a complex or compelling story but rather to watch the characters and how their relationships evolve with each other. Of course there has to be a romantic interest thrown in and although that was maybe one of the lesser parts of this movie, Virginia Madsen plays her part well and looks very fetching as a 40-something single mother.7/10

I enjoy all the actors in this, so when I first saw this in the remainder bin I grabbed it. I hadn't heard of this release at all so looked forward to breaking the cellophane.The actors - Matthew Broderick, Virginia Madsen and Alan Alda - struggle mightily with a rather awkward wandering script and a movie that can't seem to make up its mind in which direction and what genre it is embracing. Bathos, pathos, slapstick, romance and too many pathetic fight scenes get thrown into the mix and take from a slender story that could have been wonderful. Broderick plays Cooper, an editor for a Chicago newspaper who is called by his mother to sort out an uncle (Alan Alda) who is displaying bizarre symptoms of dementia. Thing is Broderick also has suffered a brain injury (another fight scene) and is having serious mental issues himself.This could have been fully explored in a blind helping the blind scenario but unfortunately it isn't. Instead we now get a road movie with a very valuable baseball card as the impetus for the flight. There were some very interesting underlying themes which were never fully explored and all dealing with Alda, playing Rollie who has a wonderful fish-writing obsession with a typewriter sitting on the end of the dock. I also thought the relationship between Cooper and his mother undeveloped, she seemed a very interesting avant-garde figure.The clichés were many down to the second to last scene when all characters in the stadium engage in an unbelievable fight/chase/fight/chase scene that seems interminable not to mind unbelievable.And then the seen-it-all-before-Joe dinner in the garden with all cast members happily chowing down. Eye-roll.A shame to waste all that great talent on this unsatisfying script. 2 out of 10.

I found this DVD at a garage sale and I was shocked that I never heard anything about this movie. A killer cast with horrible cover art. The story was wonderfully quirky. I cared for the characters and was fascinated by the plot complications. There was a nice combination of humor and sadness. The story of country folks trying to survive in the big city of Chicago was a nice touch. I loved the real Cubs footage and could feel the pain of some of the fans portrayed in the film. I once loved baseball and I would imagine any true fan would get a kick out of the real baseball references throughout the film. Overall a satisfying surprise

I must admit when I rented this movie it was largely because of its cast. I always liked Matthew Broderick and Virginia Madsen. The talents of Alan Alda go without saying ... Hawkeye as part of M*A*S*H was legendary to say the least.I quickly found I was deeply interested in this movie as it began playing maybe because of what we went through with my own uncle who developed a form of dementia that accompanied his Parkinson's Disease I don't know but I was hooked.The antics at times were funny and like other movies very serious at other times. Broderick's character is also suffering from his own memory problems due to a severe concussion and can at least understand some of what his uncle is going through. Though unlike his uncle, his neurologist states he should get better ...Alda as the uncle is excellent in this movie, funny at times but very poignant and serious at other times - as he looks into the mirror his reflection that appears back is haunting and vacant. But he tries to deal with it though at times certainly gets things muddled.Madsen also is very good in this movie as the now divorced old flame but is very strong as her relationship with Broderick's character rekindles itself. Her scenes with her son are also very touching as she tries to deal with his problems. Her character certainly though is not one dimensional as her own potential career as an artist are developed in the movie as well. Her paintings in fact were the reason for her visit to Chicago in the first place but her roots clearly are in their hometown. Madsen in this film is radiant as she has ever been. If she was stunning in the 80s she is radiant now and has only improved her craft and skills.Overall a good movie, well acted and well written. If you like movies with substance and something to them with family themes behind it this is the movie for you. Well worth the watch.