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Lili Taylor deserves better than 'State of Mind'
Is there anyone out there who doesn't know that psychiatrists can have messed-up lives? Apparently the folks promoting Lifetime's new dramedy State of Mind think that little nugget should be a revelation to us all. Because we all know, of course, that physicians never get the flu, and plumbers' sinks never back up.
Lie back on the couch and tell me about your spoilers.
It's a disappointment, because Lili Taylor is a fantastic actress who deserves better than the first script and her character, Ann. Yes, Ann is our hero, but she's kind of bland. She's a psychiatrist in an old Victorian house full of shrinks, and she discovers her husband, Phil -- also a shrink with an office in the building -- is cheating on her with their couples counselor (who, thankfully, does not rent an office in the same building, or we'd have too many vacancies). That counselor should be getting her license pulled right about now.
This revelation sends Ann into a tailspin, understandably. She bobbles some appointments, fantasizes about killing a particularly snippy patient, and starts seeing visions of her husband groping a patient while in therapy. (I really hope the vision thing isn't a recurring plot element – they didn’t really add anything to the show, and they’re done better on two other Sunday shows, Dead Zone and Side Order of Life.) Phil tries to get Ann to go to a crisis counselor, but Ann is nonplussed to discover Phil and the new counselor are buddies. She storms out, accidentally hits Phil with her car (just a little), and declines the opportunity to back over him several times while he's lying there. Mistake –- she and Phil end up having a heartfelt conversation, and suddenly Phil's cheating becomes Ann's fault for not loving him with her whole heart or something. I liked the car scenario better. Perhaps that’s why I’m not a therapist.
At the office, Ann’s colleagues don't seem to be surprised about the news. All of the men pretty much knew Phil was cheating; the other woman in the office seems to figure all men are prone to treachery. And since Phil is out of the office, Taj, and resident hardass schmuck, insists Ann find a new tenant for the office. She does, at a diner she frequents -- a babyfaced young lawyer named Barry White. And get this -- he's a white guy with a relatively reedy voice! That's comedy, folks! Plus, he's got a backstory that involves a killer for a father, leaving him "pathologically committed to being good and nice." There are worse pathologies, I suppose.
Barry meets the others in the building: There's Fred, the office manager who is afraid of life; Taj, the aforementioned hardass schmuck; and Cordelia, Ann's sister in psychiatry. But the other shrink who gets the most screentime this week is James, who we're supposed to wonder about for a number of reasons. He has an accent! Plus, he's a kids psychiatrist, and you know what they say about men who really, really like kids! This becomes a plot point when one of James' patients, a newly adopted Russian boy named Viktor, disappears from his home after James stops by and rips the clueless parents a new one for lamenting that Viktor just doesn't fit in. Maybe there's something wrong with him neurologically? James not-so-gently informs them that Viktor spent the first ten years of his life being beaten, starved and probably raped. Fie on your "fit in."
The cops come to the office late at night to question James, who apparently lives in the building, which doesn't strike me as a good idea. Barry overhears and jumps in to defend James. Later, Viktor sneaks into James' room, curls up below the foot of the bed, and falls asleep. James trips over him in the morning, Barry hears the thump, he comes in and sees Viktor, and he immediately jumps to the same conclusion that the cops and parents did the night before -- James is a child molester! James convinces Barry he’s not, Barry convinces James to call the parents, and James breaks the news to the parents that Viktor is always going to be a problem child. It took him 10 years to get this messed up, and it will take him at least 10 to get through it. Adopting a kid like that is brutal for the family, and most people give up. Only a few can stand to do the right thing, keep the kid, raise him and suffer through it all with him and basically save his life. Viktor's parents decide they want to do that right thing.
Meanwhile, Ann is dealing with a bickering couple in therapy, and she finally snaps and gives the sort of impassioned speech that most psychiatrists can only dream of if they want to stay in business. It's about love and trust and how marriage takes work, but it's also about how freaking annoying her patients are. "If I had to live with either one of you I'd cut my throat... When you two get divorced, which seems inevitable, do the right thing: Don't get remarried." Bitter members of the American Psychiatric Association across the country applaud.
In real life, most couples would immediately fire their shrink, and possibly sue for malpractice or emotional damages or just plain rudeness. But, as this is TV psychiatry, this was just the metaphysical kick in the psychosocial butt that the couple needed to come together. Again, I like my story better.
In the end, Ann finally breaks down and mourns the end of her marriage. James overhears, and brings down one of the puppets he uses in his child psych practice to comfort her. I was hoping that Ann's moment of rage and clarity, the one that allowed her to give her patients that dressing-down, would continue and she'd shriek something along the lines of "Enough with the *&#$!*& puppets!" but it was not to be. Maybe next week.
Do you find the idea of psychiatrists with emotional problems inherently hi-larious? Did James kind of freak you out? Do you want more for Lili Taylor, or do you think Ann is a good fit for her?
I agreed with your review.I found it so disjointed and confusing at first after awhle I didn't care. I mean when she hit him with her car and asked if he was ok and he said yes, she should have said too bad!! And then the fact that the lawyer jumped to the same conclusion shot all his credibility as first of all an intelligent person and second just a decent person without quick irrational judgements.I think Lili is great and def deserves better thatn this indecisive, insecure woman who seems very passive aggressive (which is never an int trait to watch) plus all of them in one house is dumb and did we even get into all the pretenious names they all had and the Barry White name joke seems like i have seen it before.
Rochelle shore | Jul 16, 2007 10:48:54 AM | #Your review is spot on. What a terribly disappointing show considering what a great actress Lily Taylor is, and how talented the rest of the cast is. I really hope the writing improves and the situations become more plausible. I'll give it maybe 2 or 3 more weeks at the most.
Michael | Jul 17, 2007 3:37:49 PM | #I'm baffled by this review. I saw this show last night and was pleased to find how well written and insightful it was.
Amy Bloom (the writer) is a genius. Two of her books were nominated for National Book Awards, She managed to convey real emotions and real people in her remarkable dialog in this show. And Lily Taylor pulled it off spectacularly.
Hello,
We wanted to let you know that a Lili Taylor’s Nanette Lepore jacket, Theory blouse, and Alfani pants from her show, “State of Mind,” and other celebrity items are currently up for auction to raise money for children’s charities. Check out www.clothesoffourback.org to bid on the clothes through August 6th.
Thank you,
Clothes Off Our Back
I agree with Olivia. The dressing down Lily gave the bickering married couple was award winning writing and acting.
I would like a copy of that speech.
After all of LiLi's enthusiastic,joy of living,previous scpresentations,from Mystic Pizza to her norejh
Doc Watters | Aug 9, 2007 10:12:55 PM | #
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