SHRINK

Year: 2009
USA: Roadside Attractions
UK: Lionsgate
Cast: Kevin Spacey, Robert Loggia, Pell James, Keke Palmer, Griffin Dunne, Saffron Burrows, Jack Huston, Dallas Roberts, Gore Vidal, Laura Ramsey, Mark Webber, Jesse Plemons, Joel Gretsch
Director: Jonas Pate
Country: USA
USA & UK: 104 mins
USA Rated: R for drug content throughout, and pervasive language including some sexual references
UK Certificate: 15 contains very strong language, frequent drug use and strong sex references
USA Release Date: 24 July 2009 (Limited Release - New York and Los Angeles)
UK Release Date: 4 June 2010 (Limited Release)
UK DVD Release Date: 26 July 2010


Synopsis

What happens when the people we count on to hold us together...are barely holding it together themselves?

Jonas Pate's SHRINK is a striking, fast-paced expose of the "other" Hollywood, featuring folks living outside their comfort zone and the people who put them there. Henry Carter (Kevin Spacey) is a psychiatrist with an A-list clientele, including a once-famous actress (Saffron Burrows), an insecure young writer (Mark Webber), and a comically obsessive-compulsive super agent (Dallas Roberts). Henry is not in a good place, however. He has been asked to take his first pro bono case, a troubled teenage girl from a neighbourhood far from the Hollywood hills. Considering his present state of mind, is he ready for the real-life troubles of a young woman who loves the world of movies he has become so jaded by?

At its core, SHRINK is a study of control and our endless need for it, even when it grows increasingly impossible to obtain. Writer Thomas Moffett uses classic archetypes in this modern Hollywood tale, but never pushes them over the edge of credibility. Performed by a well-matched cast at the top of their form, the result is both satisfying and exhilarating. Watching SHRINK makes us feel like voyeurs looking through a window into the lives of people who look great, feel worse, and end up behaving badly.

A tart, funny, and uplifting drama about the courage it takes to achieve happiness, SHRINK stars Kevin Spacey, Robert Loggia, Pell James, Keke Palmer, Griffin Dunne, Saffron Burrows, Jack Huston, Dallas Roberts, Gore Vidal, Laura Ramsey, Mark Webber, Jesse Plemons, Joel Gretsch. It is directed by Jonas Pate (DECEIVER), written by Thomas Moffett, and produced by Michael Burns, Braxton Pope, and Dana Brunetti.