Blackfoot WWII vet Jimmy Picard checked into the Menninger Clinic in Topeka in 1948 to deal with depression and severe headaches. Since he was physically undamaged, the clinic, on the absurd notion that Native American minds were somehow different, called in French anthropologist Georges Devereux.

He and Jimmy talk … And talk and talk. Devereux later wrote a book from his case notes, which Arnaud Desplechin’s film follows with an intellectual scrupulousness that sacrifices any dramatic impact. Fine performances by Benicio Del Toro and Mathieu Amalric help, but this one’s a real slog. (114 min)