Film

Mumford

Directed by Lawrence Kasdan

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Starring Loren Dean, Hope Davis, Jason Lee

Touchstone Pictures

What do mail order junkies, balding men with obscure sexual fantasies, and red-lipped, black-eyed, gothic teens all have in common? No, you did not see them featured on Jerry Springer's most random episode, but chances are, if you live in the quaint little town of Mumford, you may have caught them spilling their guts in the office to the oh-so-popular psychologist Dr. Mumford. Yes, that's Dr. Mumford living in Mumford. And if you have eight dollars and two hours to waste, I invite you to indulge in several other, much more ridiculous, aspects of the characters and plot.

In Mumford, writer/director/producer Lawrence Kasdan attempts to tell the tale of Doctor Mumford (Loren Dean) and the wide variety of patients and personas that he encounters through his small town practice. The dominant flaw of the film is Kasdan's unparalleled ability to get sidetracked. Perhaps he was distracted by episodes of America's Most Wanted, perhaps by cheesy soap operas, or maybe even by an episode of Judge Judy. The only word that sufficiently describes the plot of Mumford, and I'll I say it three times, is random, random, random.

The story-line peters along very slowly, chock full of pointless little twists of plot, until about an hour into the movie when, once again, a very random five minutes reveal several disturbing little aspects of the past of our hero, Dr. Mumford. It's a welcome surprise--in doing so, Kasdan finally provides the film with some conflict and direction. (At the same time, these five minutes also show that the overly drawn-out first half of the movie could have been condensed into ten minutes).

After this haphazard revelation, the seemingly psychoanalytical and introspective nature of the flick turns into a ridiculous Disneyland soap opera where everyone loves everyone and all problems are solved. And if that weren't bad enough, as soon as the you start to think you know which way the movie is going, Kasdan tricks you again and mixes a cheesy love story ending with a pathetic courtroom scene that looks like it may have been slapped on at the last minute to meet a deadline.

And to compliment such a carefully conceived and intricate plot are several monotonous and lukewarm acting performances by Dean, Jason Lee, who plays an idiot billionaire, and Hope Davis, Dr. Mumford's patient turned love affair. The experience of watching the acting in Mumford can perhaps be compared to the first few days of the college experience. At the beginning, no one really stands out, and at the end, you can't remember anyone's name.

And staying with the aforementioned randomness theme, the two most accomplished actors of the crew, Ted Danson and Martin Short, appear briefly in quirky antagonistic roles; Danson as the self-centered, insensitive Jeremy Brockett and Short as attorney Lional Dillard, who is at the forefront of opposition to Doctor Mumford's questionable practice. On a more cheerful note, Short and Danson, in each of their shining five-minute cameos, provide glimpses of some much-needed comic relief.

I think the highlight of Mumford may have been a heartwarming scene near the end of the movie in which Dr. Mumford emotionally declares his love for Hope Davis's character. Amidst her tears and anger at him, she explodes with a heartfelt, "I kinda love you too!" It was emotional. Really, it was.

So all in all, an unemotional, highly ridiculous love story, and a disappointingly anti-climactic ending all characterize the smorgasbord which is Mumford.

But I'll give you a better recap. Once upon a time there was a small town called Mumford. And strangely enough, in this small town there also lived a man named Mumford. And everything--and nothing at all--happened in this small town. But here's the important part: in the end, none of that really mattered anyway.