Numb

It’s no acting masterclass, but Matthew Perry is perfectly watchable as the Hollywood scriptwriter suffering ‘de-personalisation’ disorder in Goldberg’s  slightly uneven, autobiographically-inspired directorial debut. Adding a WASP-ish spin to what is essentially a variation on the nebbish confessional drama, he plays Hudson Milbank, who conducts a movie-long search for a cure for the ‘horrific perpetual dreamstate’ he enters following an overly enthusiastic inhalation of marijuana.

There’s some mordant comedy in Goldberg’s ‘indie’ drama – not that he’s aiming directly at laughs – but also an uncertainty of mood and an unwelcome sense of self-absorbtion and repetition as we watch Hudson’s endless, neurotic rounds of California’s psychiatrists’ chairs.  Paradoxically, things liven up as Goldberg reverts to more conventional, romantic territory, helped no end by an attractive and spunky performance by Lynn Collins as Hudson’s amour.

Other performances are mixed: Kevin Pollack offers good value as Hudson’s sardonic and long-suffering writing partner, Tom, whereas Mary Steenburgen seems embarrassed by her unkindly written role as the  ‘crazy’ therapist whom Hudson first encourages then disparages.