Shrink (2009) or, Rotten Hollywood

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Kevin Spacey lies passed out on a lounge chair by a Hollywood Hills pool on this mellow-colored poster for Jonas Pate's Shrink

A celebrity shrink in Los Angeles isn't worth much himself lately, addicted to pot after his wife's suicide, as he meets an African-America teenage girl, whose mother also offed herself.

Shrink is written by Thomas Moffett (The Last International Playboy (2008)), with Henry Reardon contributing story elements, and directed by Jonas Pate (The Grave (1996)).
Although there are things that connects the many characters we are introduced to in Shrink, it remains unclear why we are to meet and follow them all, - except for the fact that the film attempts to paint a collective portrait of Tinseltown. And a repulsive, cold and severely unloving portrait it is. But also one that is neither particularly amusing or seriously relevant. - Besides, who says that we even want to know about it, if the LA entertainment business is really as rotten as Shrink proposes?
The film co-stars Robin Williams (Being Human (1994)), and in light of his illness-provoked suicide in 2014, Shrink is even less pleasant to watch; his scenes are almost painful to behold, so far are they from the past greatness of his career.
Kevin Spacey (Margin Call (2011)) does a good job of playing the alienated, depressive title character, but Shrink fails to get at the core of its issues - the suicides - although it is them, and their consequences, which it seems should have been the film's main occupation.
Keke Palmer (Scream Queens (2015-16)) is also good as the teenage girl. Jack Huston's (The Yellow Birds (2017)) character Shamus seems likely based on Irish movie-star/ladykiller Colin Farrell. A couple of his scenes with Williams are out of tone with the rest of the film and too exaggerated to seem realistic.

Related posts:

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Estimated 5.1 mil. $
Box office: 303k $
= Box office disaster (returned 0.05 times its cost)
[Shrink premiered 21 January (Sundance Film Festival, Utah) and runs 104 minutes. Shooting took place in Los Angeles, California. The film opened #59 to a 16k $ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #40 and in 27 theaters the following week and grossed 189k $ (62.4 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Romania and Latvia, each with 31k $ (10.2 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 2.5/4 star review, translating to a notch better than this one. Pate has gone back to directing for TV after the film and has stayed away from features since. Spacey returned with a voice performance in Moon (2009) and a physical performance in The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009). Shrink is rotten at 27 % with a 4.57/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Shrink?

Fanboys (2009) - An unfunny, boring nerd trip

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A boy in a Darth Wader mask makes up this simple yet amusing poster for Kyle Newman's Fanboys

Four mega-nerds gather with one purpose, when one of them gets ill with cancer: Completing their childhood mission of storming the Skywalker Ranch in California to watch the rough cur of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999).

Fanboys is written by Ernest Cline (Ready Player One (2018)) and Adam F. Goldberg (The Goldbergs (2013-19)), with Dan Pulich (Quantico (2016, TV-series)) contributing story elements, and directed by Kyle Newman (The Hollow (2004, TV movie)), whose feature debut it is.
On a surface level the film is decent enough; the plot moves forward; it is coherent and fairly competently made. The problem is that Fanboys doesn't amuse or entertain much, - in fact it bores in stretches, - and is forgotten almost before it is over. It is a deeply inconsequential semi Star Wars-homage; only semi because it is also acerbic about Episode I, which it seems to hate in a half-hidden way, (the filmmakers relished and sought out father of Star Wars and writer/director of Episode I George Lucas' approval of Fanboys and undeservedly got it. )
No one in the cast distinguish themselves in Fanboys, and then it naturally doesn't help matters that the film features unwelcome nudity and sexism, (the word 'fag' is used over and over again as an integrated part of the film's 'fun'.)

Related post:

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

Watch a trailer for the film here - made by a self-described fangirl

Cost: 3.9 mil. $
Box office: 961k $
= Box office disaster (returned 0.24 times its cost)
[Fanboys premiered 6 February (USA) and runs 90 minutes. Shooting took place in New Mexico, including Albuquerque, in and around February 2006. Lucas was shown an early cut of the film, which he gave his "stamp of approval". The release was delayed by 1½ year, as director Steven Brill was given money to film new scenes, changing the film's impetus from cancer to the characters just being drunk. Spurring controversy and anger, the scenes were eventually abandoned in preference for the original cut, which Newman was given just 36 hours to reassemble. The film opened #37 to a 171k $ first weekend in 44 theaters in North America, where it only diminished from there, grossing 688k $ (71.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 156k $ (16.2 %) and Iceland with 44k $ (4.6 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 1½/4 star review, in line with this review. Newman returned with 5 TV and short credits before hitting big screens again, with Barely Lethal (2015). Fanboys is rotten at 31 % with a 4.8/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Fanboys?