Diminished Capacity

Angling for the post-‘Little Miss Sunshine’ indie-whimsy dollar, this debut from former actor Terry Kinney starts well but loses its way in a bog of quirky characters, life-affirming platitudes and Sundance cliché.

Magazine editor Cooper (Matthew Broderick) isn’t thinking straight after a blow to the head, while his uncle Rollie (Alan Alda) is also impaired thanks to Alzheimer’s. When the pair set out for Chicago intent on making a fortune on one of Rollie’s old baseball cards, various increasingly unlikely and histrionic events follow.

Kinney exhibits zero control over his material, throwing in far too many characters and relying too much on timeworn plot devices: old flames, cranky bosses, riotous road trips. Coincidence piles on contrivance, resulting in an overbaked, tiresome finale. Despite a few memorable moments, and two winning leads, this is a predictable, drab and dispiriting experience.