In a less competitive year, Jeff Goldblum would have had a shot at an Oscar nod.

Could have been a tour de force for director Paul Schrader and his cast, and the glimpses of greatness make the reality all the more disappointing.

A semi-unbearable attempt at profundity set in a mental institution 15 years after WWII.

The director brilliantly utilizes Goldblum’s mercurial charm and comedic presence to untether us from our preconceptions, while understanding the gravitas of a man wholly succumbing to survivor’s guilt.