Shrink (2009)

I saw this movie in the movie theater when I lived in a city of a million souls that’s much like the city that’s portrayed in this movie (Los Angeles). It’s the kind of city that’s more idea than a place where you would actually want to live: over-populated, all concrete and out of proportion. It’s a story about a guy who’s on a path of self-destruction, but ultimately he’s after self-obliteration through too much drugs and too much booze. 

What I liked about this movie was both that notion of self-destruction that we all turn to on and off, but also that profession that I have played around in my head with and that I never quite gotten around to: it’s about a shrink. And not just that, it’s about a shrink who’s struggling to keep it together himself. 

At heart, this movie is a drama, because the main character struggles to get over the death of his wife (who committed suicide). Where the story gets really interesting is where he takes on a pro-bono case: a teenage girl who’s struggling to come to terms with the death of her mother, and whom, it turns out also ended her own life. 

It’s not a light movie, but it’s about a tough part of life and the way we struggle to deal with those tough parts. Junkie-ism is one end, but that’s not where it ends. 

Trailer

When to watch this movie

- when you live for a stretch in a big city, and you’re trying to figure out how people keep it all together in a place like that.

- when you’re tired, stretched thin and you’re leaning into booziness and all that.

- when you’re asking yourself what it would be like to be a successful therapist, and in general what life is like on the other side.

Continue reading

Manhattan and Wild Strawberries in terms of narrative identity

Two classics, analyzed using one of my favorite ideas.


The Big Lebowski, Shrink and Lions for Lambs
Three classics in terms of 90s and post-90s.


90s: The X-Files, Blade Runner and The Matrix
Three movies that defined the 90s.