Therapist Micky Mumford (Loren Dean) is new in the town of Mumford. Lily (Alfre Woodard) runs the coffee shop. Mumford's unusual methods have garner a large following of clients although he's hiding secrets from his past. Shopaholic Althea Brockett (Mary McDonnell) is married to Jeremy (Ted Danson) with two teen kids (Jason Ritter, Elisabeth Moss). Nessa Watkins (Zooey Deschanel) is a flighty girl. Lionel Dillard (Martin Short) is the defense lawyer. Skip Skipperton (Jason Lee) is the town savior getting rich from modem manufacturing worth $3 billion who wants to pay Mumford for his friendship. Sofie Crisp (Hope Davis) is exhausted from her sickness.
Loren Dean is not charismatic enough to take the lead. There are plenty of supporting roles that he could have taken in this vast town of characters. The lead needs star quality which he is severely lacking. Instead, he's a blank floating from one character to another. I'm not sure exactly what director/writer Lawrence Kasdan is trying to do. This has a bit of whimsy but nowhere near enough to be funny. It doesn't have enough edge to be interesting. At least, Loren Dean doesn't project edge. Luckily, the movie is filled with great actors but the most important role is filled by the lackluster Dean.
Loren Dean is not charismatic enough to take the lead. There are plenty of supporting roles that he could have taken in this vast town of characters. The lead needs star quality which he is severely lacking. Instead, he's a blank floating from one character to another. I'm not sure exactly what director/writer Lawrence Kasdan is trying to do. This has a bit of whimsy but nowhere near enough to be funny. It doesn't have enough edge to be interesting. At least, Loren Dean doesn't project edge. Luckily, the movie is filled with great actors but the most important role is filled by the lackluster Dean.