I just saw this film at the Hollywood pacific, the debut feature of a pair of recent USC grads, and I was blown away. The basic premise could have been taken in so many silly and campy directions, but instead they choose to play it in a way that is hilarious and yet almost sad, which gives us this wonderful melancholy feel. The doctor is hilarious, right from the first genius telepathy scene. I was surprised how much I was laughing and then suddenly cringing and then saddened within the span of a few seconds, it was an amazing and sophisticated directing job to get me to that place and not ever pull me out of it.
In the end though, the thing that really makes the film is Michael Rappaport. My god, he plays what could have been campy lines (not to say they are badly written, in fact the writing is absolutely stellar, its just that this was a difficult role to "pull off) with the utmost delicacy and sincerity, and I for one became totally entombed in his character purely on his charisma and the everyman melancholic charm he possesses in spades and has made use of ever since I saw him for the first time in "Beautiful Girls". Really, I want him to win awards for his difficult and touching part in this film.
In the end though, the thing that really makes the film is Michael Rappaport. My god, he plays what could have been campy lines (not to say they are badly written, in fact the writing is absolutely stellar, its just that this was a difficult role to "pull off) with the utmost delicacy and sincerity, and I for one became totally entombed in his character purely on his charisma and the everyman melancholic charm he possesses in spades and has made use of ever since I saw him for the first time in "Beautiful Girls". Really, I want him to win awards for his difficult and touching part in this film.