Really Surprised!

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Good watchable indy movie in the vein of "Little Miss Sunshine". Liked the ensemble of quirky characters with their mental and other problems. Alan Alda is quite good as the elderly man with Diminished Capacity with a valuable baseball card to sell. His mental problems aren't overdone. His nephew trying to help is played by the quite well cast Matthew Broderick though he is a bit puffy looking. Virginia Madsen looks quite pretty with her lovely face. She is a bit broad in the mid section. Bobby Cannavale is quite good in his intense over the top role. It's not one to watch more than once like Sunshine or Sideways, but it's worth one watch.

It's hard to understand why this film is rated so low. It just me be that those who go to movies, 14 to 35 year olds have no idea what it means to grow old, and with this aging to lose a sense of self that is encompassed in memory.This film had a patina of comedy, but it was only a bit of sugar on some bitter reality. Having both main characters suffer from cognitive incapacity, but with a difference of one being a decline and the other only temporary was a brilliant device.Alda's sense of despair was perfectly conveyed, as he held on to the one thing he treasured, an old baseball card. But it was difficult to hold onto, and kept slipping through his fingers, like his memory itself.A rare gem of a movie, even more so for baseball fans, more so for collectors of baseball cards, and a jackpot for those who adore the Chicago Cubs.

I must admit when I rented this movie it was largely because of its cast. I always liked Matthew Broderick and Virginia Madsen. The talents of Alan Alda go without saying ... Hawkeye as part of M*A*S*H was legendary to say the least.I quickly found I was deeply interested in this movie as it began playing maybe because of what we went through with my own uncle who developed a form of dementia that accompanied his Parkinson's Disease I don't know but I was hooked.The antics at times were funny and like other movies very serious at other times. Broderick's character is also suffering from his own memory problems due to a severe concussion and can at least understand some of what his uncle is going through. Though unlike his uncle, his neurologist states he should get better ...Alda as the uncle is excellent in this movie, funny at times but very poignant and serious at other times - as he looks into the mirror his reflection that appears back is haunting and vacant. But he tries to deal with it though at times certainly gets things muddled.Madsen also is very good in this movie as the now divorced old flame but is very strong as her relationship with Broderick's character rekindles itself. Her scenes with her son are also very touching as she tries to deal with his problems. Her character certainly though is not one dimensional as her own potential career as an artist are developed in the movie as well. Her paintings in fact were the reason for her visit to Chicago in the first place but her roots clearly are in their hometown. Madsen in this film is radiant as she has ever been. If she was stunning in the 80s she is radiant now and has only improved her craft and skills.Overall a good movie, well acted and well written. If you like movies with substance and something to them with family themes behind it this is the movie for you. Well worth the watch.

Maybe Diminished Capacity isn't "all that and a bag of chips," as a friend of mine is fond of saying. But I'll tell you what, it's pretty funny. I think I heard more laughing than anything I've seen at Sundance since Napoleon Dynamite and Little Miss Sunshine. That bodes well for the box office prospects of this film.Alan Alda gives a terrific performance as Rollie Zerb, a small-town Missouri old-timer with Alzheimer's, who lives with his sister (and some hilarious but unidentified guy named Wendell in a trailer by the house). They are visited by Cooper (Matthew Broderick), who arrives at his mother's request to help talk Uncle Rollie into a nursing home. Cooper has mental problems of his own, due to a recent concussion. While back in town, he runs into Charlotte (Virginia Madsen), his high school sweetheart who is recently divorced from the town mayor. And somehow Rollie, Cooper, Charlotte and her son wind up heading to Chicago, where they are going to try to sell Uncle Rollie's rare baseball card of Frank Schulte, from the 1908 Chicago Cubs (the last Cubbies team to win the World Series!).Broderick is solid, in his awkward, understated way. Madsen is the straight woman. But Alan Alda makes the movie as Uncle Rollie, and dominates the screen in almost every scene. And yes, if you squint you'll see shades of Hawkeye Pierce, but his Rollie character is a complete departure from anything he has done in the past, and probably his best comedic performance since MASH.The script is very well-written, if a bit awkward at parts, and under the direction of veteran actor Terry Kinney, the action moves along briskly. There is probably more tension than there needs to be, which doesn't really fit. But when you're not wincing, you're generally laughing. There are some hilarious lines, and a plenty of feel-good vibe. Everyone will like this movie.Sundance Moment: Broderick was much better on stage than I would have expected. He was there with his wife, Sarah Jessica Parker, whose movie Smart People had premiered at Sundance the night before. Alan Alda was charming as well. Bobby Canavale was in two movies playing at Sundance this year, the other being The Merry Gentleman.