theluke311 Somewhere between adaptation and shooting, the magic leaped out of this film. The synopsis looked promising and it could have delivered, but it seems that poor casting choices and spotty dialog made it fall short. The leading man isn't quite convincing on film. His technique feels more fit for stage, but when on screen you see an actor and not a character. Famke Janssen and Ian Holm are the two bright spots in the nigh hour-and-a-half feature. Holm was the one actor who garnered a laugh. But they both seem out of place, heavy hitters in a smaller film. It could be that a bigger star was set to play Chris, but dropped out, leaving the film with less studio support while Famke and Ian stayed on. This film has gone on to win some festival awards, which makes me wonder if I missed something, or was simply not in the right mood for the film. Nevertheless, it could have been much, much better.

kingyhtd the trailers for "The Treatment" were kinda crappy but the movie is something else entirely this is a movie that is much better than its trailer suggest it's Light hearted and funny with a lot of substance it isn't at all cheesy or dark . the acting is truly amazing we have three unmatchable leading actors Chris Eigeman ,Ian Holm and Famke Janssen all three give some of their best work here..the movie is smart and funny and the ending leaves the Dr Morales bit open is he real or just a figment of Chris Eigeman's imagination? watch this one in theatres fans of any Famke , Ian and Chris will not be disappointed no matter how high their expectations.

The Visitor Each to his own, but I'm really surprised at the review above.I also saw this in Edinburgh (it's where I live, and incidentally the Edinburgh Film Festival was the best ever this year for me).The film I saw was cute, funny and unpredictable. There are some lovely unexpected moments. Without giving too much away... it's a relief to see a script dispense with the old "lie piled upon lie" cliché and instead have characters who decide to live up to their responsibilities. If you thought you would never get to see a New York intellectuals film in which grown-ups behave like grown-ups for once - well, here's your chance.There are also some great lines. It's impossible not to smile at Ian Holm's vaguely monomaniacal therapist intoning, in his Argentinian accent, "once you start driving ass-backward through life, it can be very hard to stop. And you realise too late that the major decisions in your life are lying in the road like so many crushed squirrels." This is possibly my favourite therapist quote since Ingrid Bergman was told in Spellbound to have "sweet dreams - and tomorrow we will analyse them over breakfast." Ian Holm makes the part work perfectly because he doesn't overdo it.You end up feeling affection for both the therapist and his client, even though they are at odds. This is one of the film's best qualities. Secondary characters get a chance to develop, so for instance the father is not just an old tartar and the mother-in-law not just a disapproving snoop. What's most evident in this film is the writer's sympathy for almost every character, so that whether or not they are redeemed, you find yourself seeing their point of view, if just in momentary flashes. I loved this.Meanwhile, Famke Janssen gets a rare chance to act, and lives up to it.The sweet thing about this film is that it isn't slavishly Woody Allen, or pointedly anti-Woody Allen either. It plays as if Woody Allen never existed. This means that there are no weary inevitabilities. Anything might happen (and frequently doesn't, because something else intriguing happens instead).It doesn't all work, but I've only got minor gripes. Overall, it could have done with being just a little longer, to make some of the secondary relationships more convincing. But erring on the side of keeping it short was probably the smarter mistake to make.If you get a chance to see this, go. Decide for yourself which review gets it right.

Chris_Docker The Treatment describes itself as 'a serious romantic comedy about life and love in NYC.' The main characters are Jake Singer, an anxious young schoolteacher who has broken up with his girlfriend and seems resigned to a life of mediocrity; his shrink, Dr Ernesto Morales (Ian Holm), who describes himself as the last great Freudian - 'in a line stretching from Moses to Aristotle;' and Allegra Marshall, a beautiful young socialite that takes a fancy to him.The film aims at a serious note with the unrelenting, intrusive and almost sadistic treatment meted out by Dr Morales. Jake's baggage is all too obvious and (although there must be easier routes) the 'treatment' does show signs of working, even when Jake starts wondering if he has maybe just 'hallucinated' the encounters. A sub-plot about adoption tries to bring in some emotional ballast to fill the chasm left by Jake and Allegra's lack of on-screen chemistry.The Treatment meanders along like an episode of Sex and the City or Frasier - only where nothing much happens. At first captivating, the endless litany of inconsequential detail and forced humour soon begins to wear. "I thought he was supposed to make you feel more comfortable in your own skin," says Allegra about Jake's analyst. "No, he's more the exfoliating type." In discussing one of Jake's favourite books, Allegra quotes a comment about the author re-drawing the landscape to place equal emphasis on what's not said. Sadly, this film has too much that is said; and that which is not said has too little substance to justify the barely relevant meanderings of school sports halls or Dr Morales' questions about sexual positions. Ian Holm delivers a fine performance, but the script, while not completely without merit, has too little to for such a great actor to get his teeth into. We are told that the lover in Jake is under-nourished and the self-pitying side over-fed: much the same could be said of this bloated, drawn-out and not particularly engaging film.