54
Metascore
13 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75New York PostKyle SmithNew York PostKyle SmithThe smart indie comedy Diminished Capacity deals with three kinds of dementia: those relating to aging, concussions and being a Chicago Cubs fan. Tying those three things together is a task that the witty script does with surprising adroitness.
- 63USA TodayClaudia PuigUSA TodayClaudia PuigA road movie that never really takes off.
- 63TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghTV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghA risky, not entirely successful comedy about mental disability, based on the novel by Sherwood Kiraly.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttThe Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttAlda actually is kind of interesting as the mentally unstable uncle, but Broderick appears to be sleepwalking. Madsen has little to do, and everyone else plays things far too broadly.
- 50VarietyVarietyA God's little acre's worth of premeditated eccentricity runs through Diminished Capacity, a triumphant losers-in-Cornville comedy starring Matthew Broderick in a role he might have phoned in, and Alan Alda as a combination Jed Clampett and Raymond Babbitt.
- 50Village VoiceVillage VoiceIt's the kind of lite movie you go and see with your mom, and she'll say she liked it--but then a year later, you're both trying to remember what it was even about. Two and a half shrugs.
- 50Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsChicago TribuneMichael PhillipsStriving for low-key character comedy, Diminished Capacity ends up diminishing its returns.
- 50The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayBroderick, Alda, and Madsen are all fine--and Alda has some poignant moments as he realizes the implications of his forgetfulness--but their presence in a movie like this reaffirms its conventionality.
- 50The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisTouches earnestly on heart-heavy issues of loss: loss of memory, of love and, perhaps because of the local angle, of (or rather by) the Chicago Cubs. But Mr. Kinney, a founder of the Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago and a familiar face from film and television, never gives his movie a sustained pulse.
- 50Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesChicago ReaderJ.R. JonesWhen a respected actor moves into the director's chair, he can usually draw a pretty good cast, which is certainly the case here... But Sherwood Kiraly's slight script only makes this embarrassment of riches seem more embarrassing.