Actor-turned-director Terry Kinney’s appropriately titled comedy is a dimly inspired hodgepodge of lame plotlines, strained humor, and a few uneven performances by an otherwise solid cast. Not actually intended as an allusion to its own mediocrity, of course, the title refers to the clinical description of a compromised mental state. Yes, this is a very unlikely comedy about Alzheimer’s, post-concussion syndrome, and any other devastating curve ball that nature or life may throw our way. But in trying to tackle this loaded topic with finesse, the script foolishly crams contrived pathos with disjointed jokes.

Headliner Mathew Broderick phones in his role as Cooper, a meek Chicago newspaper editor relegated to proofing comic strips after a blow to the head leaves him forgetful and confused. His character is pretty much a recycled version of the high school teacher he so expertly played in Alexander Payne’s 1999 comedy Election, but the personality feels stale and lackluster the second time around. A slightly more supple performance comes courtesy of Alan Alda, who plays Cooper’s Uncle Rollie—an eccentric old man standing on the precipice of far more serious dementia.

Charged with this uncle’s care, a shaky Cooper travels to rural Missouri, where he finds Rollie tying fishing lines to a typewriter and then pouring over the mysterious poetry written by the tugging fish (one of the script’s uncharacteristically surreal and charming details). However, his uncle has just enough presence of mind to tell Cooper about a priceless Chicago Cubs card in his possession. Joined by a caravan of Cooper’s old girlfriend, her son, and one mercenary straggler out to filch the card, the two diminished men take off to a memorabilia expo back in Chicago, and Diminished Capacity abruptly fuses the topic of human memory with commercialized baseball nostalgia.