Mathieu Amalric has appeared in almost all of director’s Arnaud Desplechin’s films and by now you could say they have developed a synergy similar to what Scorsese has with DiCaprio, what Truffaut had with Leaud and what Pedro Almodóvar gets from Penélope Cruz; that is, that the actor anticipates the director’s needs and viceversa. Watching him play psychotherapist Georges Devereaux in “Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian” feels less like watching an actor play a real life character and more like seeing Amalric riff on the notes he’s given by Desplechin.
The film, which seems stilted during its opening scenes, is injected with vibrant life the second Amalric appears onscreen; all eyes and messy hair, Georges picks up the phone - at a NY bar of all places - to answer a call from a colleague who wants him to come down to Kansas to help with the strange case of Jimmy Picard (Benicio del Toro) a Blackfoot Indian who has come back from WWII with symptoms that suggest schizophrenia. Even though Deveraux is not an MD, he has incomparable success with Jimmy’s case, but his private life leaves much to be desired as he finds himself unable to commit the the woman he loves (a scene stealing Gina McKee).
Desplechin, who has acquired a reputation for his incisive character studies in films like “A Christmas Tale” and “Kings and Queen”, tones down his mordacious tone to deliver a film that adheres to Hollywood biopic standards. There is nothing shocking, groundbreaking or even remotely inventive in the way the story is presented and precisely because of its familiarness, the film leaves much to be desired. Del Toro seems to be on autopilot, and fails to see beyond the surface of the stern Jimmy. Perhaps it’s part of the performance, but very often it feels as if he’s not interested in his character’s inner life.
This leaves Amalric on his own (considering how most of the movie is made up of conversations between the two of them) trying to compensate for del Toro’s barely there performance. While the subject matter is fascinating, especially in its observations about how psychoanalysis depends highly on matters pertaining to cultural development and anthropology, there is nothing particularly memorable about the film as a whole. “Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian” is effective but lacks the qualities that would make us want to return for further sessions.
