Mumford

Can anyone figure out Lawrence Kasdan? He is one of the most prolific screenwriters of the past two decades, having penned Raiders of the Lost Ark, Return of the Jedi andThe Big Chill-Kasdan's last intentional foray into comedy

After that great comic screenplay, Kasdan never really returned to comedy. (Although he did write The Bodyguard, one of the most unintentionally funny screenplays ever-it had Whitney Houston winning an Oscar!) Instead, Kasdan wasted his talent on mediocre thrillers and action dramas.

Now, he gives us Mumford, a light-hearted film about a phony small-town psychologist. It seems that the writer-director has elected, wisely, to return to his comedic roots. The film stars Loren Dean (Gattaca, Say Anything) in the title role who, trying to start his life over, stumbles into the town of Mumford, assuming the town's name as his own last name.

Mumford tries to help the small town's various neurotics and, predictably, every neurotic has a funny story, setting the film's breezy comedic tone. Solid all-around performances carry the film. Dean's deadpan humor and a strong ensemble cast of supporting actors, including Alfre Woodard, Hope Davis and Chasing Amy's Jason Lee, pave the way for a funny movie about topics as serious as drug abuse, depression and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

During the past few years, a lot of comedies have fallen victim to "dramatic drowning"-they become weighed down by minor dramatic elements to the point that they cannot resurface (Nine Months and As Good As It Gets come to mind). Mumford never does that; instead it maintains a steady comic beat and avoids sappiness even when delivering its message.

The other psychoanalysis comedy of the year, Analyze This (Billy Crystal, Robert De Niro) also avoided dramatic drowning. Could this be the new trend in film comedy? Let's hope so. Mocking neuroses is a hell of a lot more fun than getting all "Oprah" about them.

-By Martin Barna