Two stars
8 p.m. Tuesday, WFLD-Channel 32
By Paige Wiser, TV Critic
pwiser@suntimes.com
Cross Tom Cruise in "Top Gun" with Robin Williams in "Patch Adams," then take off all their clothes, and you have Dr. Jack Gallagher. We meet the hero of "Mental" as he's struggling with a naked schizophrenic. To win his trust, Gallagher strips down, too.
Because he cares. And because he's a maverick.
Unfortunately, the new series is not as impressive as Gallagher's pectorals. Set in a mental hospital, Gallagher is the just-hired chief who's determined to help his patients with his maverick ways. He's played by Chris Vance ("Prison Break"), who tries to overcome the cheesy script with a British accent and a little dignity. He fails.
How do we know that Gallagher's a maverick?
He dresses down.
He rides a bicycle to work.
He served with Doctors Without Borders.
He makes the staff participate in a three-legged race with the patients.
He does a little breaking-and-entering to track down clues about the state of mind of the naked schizophrenic - which seems illegal even to me.
A worse crime? Gallagher dazzles his colleagues with card tricks in the conference room. If that's not illegal, it should be.
The good:
The premise of delving into the minds of mental patients has unlimited potential. The series uses fancy special effects to show the patients' point of view. We could call it "crazy cam," although that would not be very sensitive.
One guy sees everyone with lizard tails, while an elderly woman fantasizes about having sex with them all. (Doesn't anyone hallucinate about rainbows and sugar cookies?)
Annabella Sciorra flips on her disturbed role in "The Sopranos" by playing the wise hospital chief here. She doesn't have much to do.
I did enjoy Nicholas Gonzalez, playing an intern trying to bed fellow intern Marisa Ramirez, a hot lesbian. They have a nice chemistry going. I'd like to see them recast in an update of "Silk Stalkings."
As for Dr. Gallagher and his card tricks -- I'm rooting for him to lose his license.
Funny review. I'm into it because I study therapy but also because I'm a fan of the human mind. You didn't address that much.
I agree the movie fails miserably at what it aims to be:
Still, there is a lot of potential here to portray the inner mind of mentally ill people. I'd like to see them get more acutely sensitive writers the way ER used to have a team from the actual ER wing but I won't complain, not for a couple episodes more anyway.
BTW, your reference to Silk Stalkings was perfect!
I actually really enjoyed it. I'll be tuning in.
:)
I tried to watch this show last night.. Were there extra commercials it seemed like every 5 minutes there was another commercial.. makes it difficult to watch.