The film industry has delivered some masterpieces in motion picture featuring psychiatrists. With mental health being a high priority in our country, the topic is both timely and deserving of extra attention. Some of the movies focus on mental illness and the trials that patients endure. Others give us the perspective of the mental health professionals who work with them. We’ve included a good sampling of a variety of genres in our pick for top five psychiatrists in movies.
1. Dr. Leo Marvin in “What About Bob”
Richard Dreyfus is Dr. Leo Marvin who is about to take his family on an important trip to Lake Wineepesaukie. He’s booked for an interview with “Good Morning America” to promote the sale of his new book called “Baby Steps.” Everything looks bright and sunny until the day before his trip, he gets a new patient. Bob is a clingy and needy neurotic who won’t take no for an answer. Bill Murray is at his comedic best as he tracks Marvin down on vacation and takes over the interview with an impressive spiel about how wonderful the new book is. He steals the show and Marvin is left looking like an idiot on live national television. His family grows to dearly love Bob and this is where the hilarity begins.
2. Dr. Mark Powell in “K-Pax”
Jeff Bridges plays the part of Dr. Mark Powell, the psychiatrist who desperately tries to save his patient who is under a strong delusion. Kevin Spacey is “Prot,” a psychiatric patient who is in denial about the savage killing of his wife and daughter. He kills the murderer and then attempts suicide by jumping in the nearby river. He emerges as “Prot,” an alien from K-Pax who is here to help mankind bettter understand themselves, but he is headed for a major breakdown and the clock is ticking as Powell frantically races to unlock the secrets that may save the man whose real name is Robert Porter.
3. Sean Maguire in “Good Will Hunting”
Robin Williams plays the part of psychiatrist Sean Maguire, who works with Will Hunting, played by Matt Damon. Hunting is a janitor at a college, with a gift and an affliction. Will has a brilliant mathematical mind, but he struggles with internal demons. He’s a bit on the wayward side until he meets the soul mate who helps him to open his heart and his mind. Sean asks him the tough questions that make him think about what he’s doing with his life, and enlightens him as to what his life could be as they work through the kinks in his beliefs and thought processes.
4. Dr. Berger in “Ordinary People”
Robert Redford directed this drama that focuses on a depressed boy played by Timothy Hutton. Jud Hirsch is Dr. Berger who treats Conrad (Hutton) whose brother drowned in a tragic accident, leaving him feeling responsible. Conrad has already attempted suicide. Berger sticks with him through the ups and downs of trying to come to grips with what has happened so he can move on to try to have a normal life. The all-star cast of this drama work together brilliantly to deliver a film that is moving with believable characters who all struggle with their loss and look for the help that is so badly needed.
5. Dr. Ben Sobel in “Analyze This”
Billy Crystal plays the part of analyst Ben Sobel who is the psychiatrist for the troubled mob boss, Paul Vitti, played by Robert De Niro. Sobel is preparing for his upcoming wedding when he meets his new client who is extraordinarily needy and clingy. The slightly neurotic Vitti has some deep insecurities and his default method for solving problems is through violence. The movie is a comedy that shows us everybody has feelings, even if they do rub people out who get in their way.
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