Diminished Capacity is a comedy from 2008 and was first screened in January of the same year at the Sundance Film Festival before hitting cinema screens in July. It’s based on a novel of the same name, written by Sherwood Kiraly.
It’s a quaint little movie. I think that’s the right word.
The story follows Cooper (Matthew Broderick) who is suffering from a bout of memory loss due to hitting his head against a wall in a bar fight in which he was collateral damage, it wasn’t his fight but he took a hit.
After being let go from his job as a Political Correspondent at a newspaper he finds himself heading home at his Mothers (Lois Smith) request to help take care of his Uncle Rollie (Alan Alda). His Uncle is also suffering from his own form of memory problems, his are age related though, Alzheimers, and he’s not getting any better from it. His Mother hopes Conner can persuade him to get more professional help.
This might not be as helpless as it all seems as it’s revealed that Uncle Rollie is in possession of a rare baseball card; Frank Schulte from the 1908 Chicago Cubs lineup. And, if they could convince Rollie to sell this card they could potentially put all their financial woes behind them and get Rollie the help he needs.
As he’s back home for the first time in a good while, the inevitable happens and he runs into his ex-girlfriend, Charlotte (our Virginia Madsen). Charlotte is single, good news for Connor. She had a husband, and a child, Dillon (Jimmy Bennett) now she’s back on the market. The two hit it off quite well and rekindle their acquaintance. Not in a romantic way, but a friend way.
One thing leads to another and before you know it, Connor, Uncle Rollie, Charlotte and Dillon are on the road to a Sports Memorabilia Convention to sell the card.
And, yeah – That about sums up the premise and you can probably work out the sentimental trip to the Convention that follows.
It’s not a bad film, and it’s not a good film. It has a lot of heart, I’ll say that much. The performances from all the cast are spot on. Matthew Broderick has a knack for this kind of sentimentality, Alan Alda is always a joy to watch and he pulls off the role with as much gravitas as you’d imagine he would.
Virginia Madsen does her whole “Single Mother with a heart of gold just waiting for her chance” thing in this one, it’s not a bad dialled in performance by any means – It’s nothing new though While all of the acting her,e is above par you wouldn’t expect anything less from the cast.
It’s worth a watch, it’s likely nothing you haven’t seen before but it’s still worth a watch for the performances alone. It’ll touch your soul in all the right places and maybe give you a little hope that things aren’t that bad at the same time.
Availability:
Good, not hard to find on DVD and on some streaming services depending on your location (or access to a VPN).
Gallery:
Trailer:
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