Mumford

A few people weren’t too happy with my review of the new Kevin Costner film last week, wondering if I had anything good to say about any movie. How’s this? Despite its somewhat slow start, Mumford turns out to be a rather pleasant surprise. "Treat" might be a more appropriate word to describe it.

Most of the deliberately-paced action takes place in a Mayberry-like burg called Mumford. Along comes a new town psychotherapist whose name coincidentally is Dr. Mumford (Loren Dean). Frequently called "Doc," he employs some fairly unusual and unethical therapies. Sometimes he’ll cut off his patients in mid-sentence and abruptly end the session. Or he’ll talk about one patient with another.

We get to meet Doc’s cadre of patients from the small town. Pharmacist Henry Follett (Pruitt Taylor Vance) is obsessed with sex fantasies. Young billionaire computer geek Skip Skipperton (Jason Lee) wants a woman who doesn’t love him just for his money. Althea Brockett (Mary McDonnell) is a shopaholic who feels abandoned by her obnoxious banker husband (Ted Danson).

One patient, Sofie Crisp (Hope Davis), suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome brought on by a failed marriage. Sofie piques Doc’s interest and curiosity and gets him to practice some unorthodox field work. Sofie’s hateful mother, a rather loathsome person, generates the biggest laughs during the entire movie.

There’s one problem, however. Doc Mumford is as phony as a three dollar bill. His credentials are bogus. One rival therapist calls the state licensing board to investigate. Worse, even Robert Stack and his TV series, "Unsolved Mysteries," is on the guy’s trail.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the peerless performances in Mumford. I really liked this intelligent, offbeat comedy.