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Numb (2008): DVD Review Starring: Matthew Perry, Lynn Collins, Mary Steenburgen by Richard Leigh 
It has been quite a bumpy road for Matthew Perry since 'Friends' finished in 2004. When you play the same character in a successful sitcom for ten years it's always going to be difficult to be seen as anything other than that character ever again; it's all too easy to get typecast and with 'Numb' Matthew Perry plays a part incredibly different to that of his 'Chandler Bing' character in 'Friends'. 'Numb' was given a somewhat limited release in the UK, in America however it went direct-to-DVD which just doesn't do this slick black comedy film justice. Written and directed by Harris Goldberg, 'Numb' is an intelligent romantic comedy film and one which I personally thoroughly enjoyed watching. 'Numb' has been written from the personal perspective of Harris Goldberg about events which he has experienced in his life and this is therefore something that makes the film all the more enjoyable and provides the film with supremely heightened realism.
Hudson Milbank is a successful Hollywood screenwriter, he has a poor relationship with his mother and some serious psychological issues which stem from his childhood. He's an incredibly negative person, suffers terribly with obsessive compulsive disorder, and one day his problems are further worsened when he takes twelve tokes of a marijuana joint he is sharing with two friends. The drug smoking has triggered a genetic predisposition to depersonalization disorder, the world no longer feels real to him and he has no emotional connection with anything at all. Hudson sees a variety of different medical professionals and resorts to taking all sorts of prescription drugs to get him through his days, nothing ever works too well for him however and he develops a strange fascination with the Golf Channel. He stocks up on 3 hour movies from the local Blockbuster and watches them all one after the other. Hudson is a wreck and his life lacks all meaning, that is until one day when he meets a lady called Sarah. She loves him for who he is, he's able to be himself around her and Hudson begins to become more motivated. Will it work out for the couple though? Will Hudson ever be able to find a way to overcome his depersonalization disorder? I just can't say, watch the film however and all shall be revealed. Right from the very beginning of the film 'Numb' had me completely hooked, I loved what I was seeing and really did enjoy the way the film progressed and the manner in which Matthew Perry played out his part of Hudson Milbank. The dark comedy of the film works incredibly well here, the film has the feel of the HBO TV series 'Six Feet Under' and its dark approach to comedy really did go down incredibly well with myself. I'm a huge fan of dark comedy of this sort, it's a romantic comedy at heart but approaches the genre in a very different way to most. 'Numb' is intriguingly intelligent and always the script here is incredibly well thought out and provides for a supremely entertaining viewing experience. Matthew Perry is very believable in his part, all elements and aspects of the film come together powerfully and always here the film is hugely enjoyable to watch. Throughout 'Numb' there is a fantastic voice-over narrative spoken by Matthew Perry; this really helps you warm to his character even more and makes the movie all the more special. I'm a huge fan of films which succeed with featuring voice-over narratives, when done well they can be incredible; when done badly however then they can actually really detract away from the overall quality of the film as a whole. 'Numb' is most definitely a film with which the voice-over narrative really does work, it helps us engage with Matthew Perry's Hudson Milbank character and warm to him on an extremely personal level. You truly feel for his character and want for things to go right for him, he wants to overcome his depersonalization disorder, he wants to feel emotions again, he just doesn't know how to however and you really feel his frustration and can relate to him on an incredibly personal level due to the sheer magnificence of Matthew Perry's voice-over. As well as starring Matthew Perry, a number of other important stars also feature here such as Kevin Pollak, Lynn Collins, Mary Steenburgen, and Helen Shaver also. Lynn Collins is the love interest Sarah, Helen Shaver on the other hand takes on the role of Matthew Perry's on-screen mother. Her role within the film is somewhat limited, when called upon she plays her part well however and always here shows herself to be a hugely talented actress. Mary Steenburgen actually plays Matthew Perry's cognitive therapist Dr. Cheryl Blaine here, what he doesn't realise when he first starts seeing her however is that she's actually more mentally unhinged than he is. Steenburgen plays her part perfectly here, from the spoken commentary included with the DVD we find out that she is an actress whom director Harris Goldberg thinks an awful lot of and it's not too hard to see why here. It is Matthew Perry that makes this film so special though, Lynn Collins is still strong alongside him however and she also is excellent in her part. She's upbeat, bubbly, and incredibly fun as Matthew Perry's partner here. They work extremely well together and the strong chemistry between these two characters really helps in making this film work as well as it does. I feel that Matthew Perry could actually have carried this film on his own such is the strength of the character that he plays and the performance that he puts in here, all others involved in this film are very well chosen in their parts as well though and a lot of high quality acting ability is here shown to be on display. I feel that one of the main problems that could be seen with 'Numb' is in its glamorisation of mental health issues. Depersonalization disorder is a serious disorder which people do genuinely suffer with; it's not made to look too bad here however and for the most part you just don't really feel that the disorder is too bad a thing at all. Depersonalization disorder is quite obviously a serious thing, and at times certain events within the film will make you very aware of this, a lot of the films laughs are however centred around Hudson Milbank's depersonalization disorder and the way in which he lives his life as a result of this. I love dark comedy, I'm sure that some will take serious issue with the films tackling of depersonalization disorder however and perhaps this is one of the key reasons why 'Numb' did not secure a cinematic release in the U.S. Ultimately though, this is Harris Goldberg's telling of his own story so if he wants to make light of the serious issues he suffered then so be it; it can't have been easy for him living with depersonalization disorder, he did though, battled on, and now has even made a successful film about it. Harris Goldberg is a great man and with 'Numb' has put to film an exceptional movie. 'Numb' does have its moments of sheer romantic comedy cheese, for the most part it's incredibly intelligent however and for this reason 'Numb' is a film which stands out from the crowd in terms of its excellence and overall enjoyment factor. It's very funny, never is there a dull moment here, and always Matthew Perry is excellent in his role. 'Numb' is not perfect, it's pretty good though and most definitely a film that I personally would highly recommend watching. This is not a big budget movie, it is however very well done and brilliant use is made here of the limited budget that it did have. From watching this film two things have been made 100% clear to me; number one is that Harris Goldberg is an exceptionally gifted writer/director, and number two is that Matthew Perry truly is an incredibly talented actor. Matthew Perry truly makes this film so special as it is, the script is excellent and the direction sublime also; it's the incredible performance of Matthew Perry that makes the film stand out however and never here can I find any fault whatsoever with the performance that he puts in. If Matthew Perry wasn't in this film it would possess nowhere near as much charm as it does, he is in the film however and is the life, soul, and supreme driving force behind this wonderfully charming and intelligent romantic comedy wonder that is 'Numb'. Special Features:- Like many a movie out there, 'Numb' is a film which comes complete with a 'Feature Commentary' included on the DVD. What I didn't realise when I first started listening to the commentary was that Harris Goldberg actually suffered himself from depersonalization disorder and that the film is therefore written about his personal experiences with the disorder. Every character within the film is based upon someone in Harris Goldberg's life, 'Numb' is very much a personal account of his experiences and for me the knowledge of this made 'Numb' all the better and added further enjoyment to the film for repeated viewings. I did wonder where the terrific realism of the film came, and quite clearly the reason Harris Goldberg was so great at writing and directing this one is because it is the story of a section of his life. Matthew Perry was not Harris Goldberg's original choice, he had wanted a more dramatic actor but Perry showed a huge interest in the part and requested to meet up with him straight away having heard about the film. The rest is history as they say, Matthew Perry plays the part of the key protagonist within the film and a great job he does too. Throughout the commentary never does Harris Goldberg seem to stop talking for a second, it's the story of his personal experience with depersonalization disorder and every smallest detail within the film is worked from his own memory and recollection of the events which took place in his own life. It's an outstanding commentary, very personal and incredibly enjoyable viewing as a result. Also featured here is a 19 minute feature titled 'Numb: An Inside Look'. We get to hear here from writer/director Harris Goldberg, executive producer Mary Aloe, and also those involved in the film such as Matthew Perry, Mary Steenburgen, Lynn Collins, and Kevin Pollak also. Once more the highlight of this special feature is hearing what Harris Goldberg has to say; hearing how personal the film is to him and how much 'Numb' truly matters and means to him as a movie. Due to the nature of the film and the fact that it is an autobiographical account of Harris Goldberg's own life; once more the extra feature works really well here and provides for great post-viewing entertainment. The extras provided here really help you to understand and warm to the film even more, the extra features are well thought out and as intelligently put together as the film itself which truly is absolutely excellent to find. One final bonus feature here is the obligatory theatrical trailer. Quite why these appear on the vast majority of DVDs out there I'm not too sure; who really wants to watch a trailer of a film they've already seen in full? The commentary is brilliant, the documentary feature also is excellent, the trailer however is a really rather worthless extra I truly wish they'd remove from all DVDs; they're just not worthwhile and serve to add no further quality whatsoever. 
Rating: 4 out of 5 Details about the film: |
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