Jimmy P. is based on a true story of a Native American Blackfoot named Jimmy Picard (Benicio Del Toro). He’s an army veteran who suffers from severe headaches, dizzy spells, temporary blindness, and hearing loss. He goes to the army’s doctors for help only they can’t find a specific cause for this and they automatically assume he is a schizophrenic. However to be sure, they assign a French anthropologist named Georges Devereux (Mathieu Amalric) to find out just what is happening with Picard.
Slowly but surely, they meet and Devereux dives in and slowly gets information out of Jimmy, finding out that the man has been repressing many years of pain and regret for a long time. There’s a lot of hurt that Jimmy needs to share, and Devereux is the first outlet, hopefully the resolution to his medical problems.
Benicio Del Toro gives a solid performance and is mostly believable as a Native American. Mathieu Amalric is funny and engaging as Devereux providing a sharp and interesting performance. The most interesting part of the film is the interaction and growing relationship between Picard and Devereux, but when we are not with them, the film meanders and seems lost.
We get a subplot with Devereux’s love interest Madeleine (Gina McKee), but it never captures our attention like the growing relationship between the two men does. Director Arnaud Desplechin, who also wrote the film along with Julie Peyr and Kent Jones, never quite find a groove or proper pacing. The film seems as lost as our protagonist is.
Jimmy P. just never found a way to connect with me. I could tell when it was expected for me to feel something or be moved, but it just never captured me in the way that is was supposed to. While Del Toro and Amalric are perfectly fine, they never elevate the film to a memorable level, leaving it all to ultimately feel forgettable.
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