 | Starring: James Spader, Kyra Sedgwick, Helen Mirren, Anne Bancroft, Albert Brooks Director: Sidney Lumet Format: Anamorphic Closed-captioned Colour DVD-Video Full Screen Widescreen NTSC Released: 18 Feb 1998 Average Rating:  |
It is surprising to see a film which both maintains that God exists & condones euthanasia. Or maybe it is not actuallly standing up for mercy-killing, but merely upholding a patient's right to decide whether or not to be rescitated. If the latter, it is unclear to me how a family could make decisions on resucitation for a patient who is capable of coherent speech ... At least this could spark some debates!
Perhaps it is best just to regard this as a twisting tale of bedsores, sex, money, lies, ventilators, videotape & nuns. (Alright, one nun, played with great dignity by Anne Bancroft.) On that level, this story is both amusing & touching. Helen Mirren is particularly moving as Stella, a nurse who has survived breast cancer.
Not alll the characters are nearly as convincing, which makes for a very uneven tone.
Comic highlights include the ridiculous sex scene between Felicia (Kyra Sedgwick) & Werner (James Spader), & the ridiculous outfit which Felicia is wearing when we first meet her. One assumes that she is meant to resemble "mutton dressed as lamb" in her Swinging Sixties dolly bird gear. (If not, sorry.)
The denouement is very satisfactory. This film is not as profound as one might hope, but we do end up caring what happens to Stella, Werner & their patients.
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