What a beautiful movie!

A Brilliant Conflict

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Samantha (Courteney Cox) is a Los Angeles travel writer that jets off to faraway places a good deal of the time. One day, as her fiancé taxies her to the airport, he also informs her that he is unhappy with their relationship and is taking a job in New York City. Samantha boards the plane but breaks the law when she makes an emergency exit from the near-takeoff ready aircraft. Understandably, she ends up in therapy with a kind counselor (Carol Kane). Yet, one day the legitimate shrink has a breakdown and Samantha is the only one who can take her to the hospital and, subsequently, cancel the doctor's appointments for the next few weeks. Lo and behold, Samantha's attractive, new, and decidedly married neighbor, Michael, arrives for his first session and Sam decides to "pose" as the counselor. She does this to get to closer to him, having witnessed problems between him and his French, Victoria's Secret-model wife. Also arriving in the building is a magazine salesman named Henry (David Arquette) whose business caters to physicians. He strikes up a friendship with Sam, also. But, will it be a case of Henry likes Samantha, Samantha likes Michael, and Michael cares only for himself? And, when will the truth surface? This is a fun-filled film with charming performers and a clever plot. Cox and Arquette, married in real life, make the most of their sly roles and Kane is terrific as the on-the-edge counselor. The other cast mates are gorgeous and talented, too. All of a movie's assets, from sets to costumes to direction, are quite fine as well. If you love your romcoms, don't miss out on a showing of this film! Instead, shrink your daily to-do list, run to the video store or library, and get your mitts around this comic tale of love.

I am tired of discovering movies that I appreciate only to look them up on the internet and discover that I am alone in my appreciation. The Shrink Is In is an example. Rottentomatoes.com didn't even have enough reviews of this movie to give a score. It is nicely written, acted an directed. Predictable in its outcome--yes. But this is a comedy in which the viewer is supposed to root for the predictable outcome. And this had a cute conclusion.It may say much about me that when I go to the video store I pick titles--and often actors--I have never heard of. Invariably (unless Ben Affleck has anything to do with them) they are entertaining movies. Perhaps only the independent films appeal to me. I like good dialogue. If a movie can be easily fast-forwarded and nothing important is missed, nothing was there to miss. To prove this to yourself, try fast forwarding one of the Charley's Angels movies. (Maybe this is a bad example as the confusion you may encounter with these movies is that there is no believable or discernible plot.) Next, try fast forwarding any of the early Woody Allen movies, Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy for example. You'll get the picture.

This is a pleasant enough diversion of a movie. Courteney Cox basically plays Monica, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Her performance in the movie's introduction is forced, but after that is fine. The movie holds up especially well in those scenes without David Arquette. I've never been a fan of that 'Look how wacky I am' brand of humour, and it falls flat on its face here. The writing is unoriginal, but sometimes that's a nice thing in a movie; we know that everything will be fine in the end. There's the odd funny line, but a little too much farce (i.e. Cox repeatedly falling off a chair) or juvenile humor that adds little. Average, but adequately entertaining.

If only this film was released in North America, it would've gotten not only critically acclaim, but it would swept both the Cannes and Sundance Film Festivals faster than you'd think.This movie was shot prior to the off-screen wedding of Courtney Cox (Arquette) and David Arquette in June of 1999, and was only released in Australia. If you have the Oxygen network on your cable system, you can see that film with the usual editing and commercials an average network would do.JAG viewers will recognize David James Elliot as Courtney's dream hunk with an annoying girlfriend who once worked as a Victoria's Secret model. David play's Henry, who's also after her heart.If The Shrink is In comes out onto North American theaters, then I'd be the first in line to see the movie, even if I have to tell every film critic that the film's a hit, then it IS a hit.