Critical Care (1997)

Regisseur:

Sidney Lumet

Drehbuchautoren (WGA):

Richard Dooling (novel)
Steven Schwartz (screenplay)

Premierendatum:

31. Oktober 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Komödie | Drama

Werbezeile:

At Memorial Hospital no one ever dies... Until their insurance runs out.

Plot:

Werner Ernst is a young hospital resident who becomes embroiled in a legal battle between two half-sisters...

Plot Keywords:

Blackmail | Law | Health Insurance | Medical | Seduction

Filmpreise:

1 nomination

Nutzerkommentare:

A huge BOMB, despite the well known cast and director

Besetzung

James Spader	...	Dr. Werner Ernst
Kyra Sedgwick	...	Felicia Potter
Helen Mirren	...	Stella
Anne Bancroft	...	Nun
Albert Brooks	...	Dr. Butz
Jeffrey Wright	...	Bed Two
Margo Martindale	...	Constance 'Connie' Potter
Wallace Shawn	...	Furnaceman
Philip Bosco	...	Dr. Hofstader
Colm Feore	...	Richard Wilson
Edward Herrmann	...	Robert Payne
James Lally	...	Poindexter
Harvey Atkin	...	Judge Fatale
Al Waxman	...	Sheldon Hatchett (a Lawyer)
Hamish McEwan	...	Dr. Hansen

Alternativ:

Sterben und erben (Deutschland) (TV title) [de]

MPAA:

Rated R for language and a scene of sexuality.

Länge:

107 Min

Produktionsland:

Australia | USA

Sprache:

Englisch

Farbe:

Farbe (DeLuxe)

Tonverfahren:

Dolby Digital

Altersfreigabe:

Australia:M | Iceland:L | USA:R | Spain:13

Drehorte:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Firma:

ASQA Film Partnership

Dialogzitate:

Dr. Werner Ernst: If he's going to die, why should we proceed?
Dr. Butz: Where have you been all your life? It's called revenue!

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Verweist auf/spielt an auf/erwähnt The Terminator (1984)

Soundtrack:

Dry Bones

A huge BOMB, despite the well known cast and director

Werner (James Spader) is a resident at a large city hospital. He's just learning about the politics behind the supposed goal of saving lives, something his colleague, Stella (Helen Mirren) is already savvy on. This is especially true when Werner meets a beautiful young model (Kyra Sedgwick) whose father is a comatose patient at the hospital. It is the model's opinion that her father should be taken off life support; her sister insists that the father communicates with her (by squeezing her hand) and that he can recover. Although the model seems sincere in her concern for her father's state, it turns out that she will inherit a large sum of money upon his death. Which way will the winds blow through the halls of the hospital? This is an awful movie, just awful. For those attracted to the smiling Spader and Sedgwick on the video's cover, get over it. Although the actors are not the film's weakest point, they do an I'm-working-for-a-paycheck job at best. (How they convinced Mirren to join the film, I'll never know). And, there is absolutely no comedy in the film at all, just one depressing scene after another. Lumet, despite his reputation, is to be faulted mightily for the poor direction, and the script is beyond abysmal. Do not waste your time with this movie, unless you just want to see what a film "bomb" really is. It is a failure, and not even an interesting one, at that.