Category Archives: Medical Theme

2010, Comedy, Cooking and food, Drugs, Feel Good Not For Children, Flirting, Love Story, Medical Theme

Life As We Know It (2010)

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From NetFlix:

Caterer Holly Berenson (Katherine Heigl) and network sports director Eric Messer (Josh Duhamel) discover a reciprocal hatred during an ill-fated first date — but are forced to put their feelings aside when their mutual friends die and they become the guardians for orphaned Sophie. Now, Holly and Eric must learn to live with each other and juggle their promising careers while taking care of the little girl in this romantic comedy.

If you are searching for a good date movie AND you are wild about infants and children, then I have a good film for you. If anything this film shows in a realistic way just how all-consuming a task it is to raise a child, let alone to also want a career. In a way, the only contrived part of the scheme was that a dead couple’s will could stipulate guardians for the orphans without the consent of those guardians. And how realistic is it that the man and woman guardians (who supposedly dislike each other) would consent to the idea AND share the house of the deceased parents ? Who cares! It is a fun film with lots of pleasing sight gags.

Katherine Heigl, who plays the woman Holly, played opposite Gerard Butler in “The Ugly Truth”. Josh Duhamel, who plays the man Eric, so far seems to be mostly Major Lennox in the Transformers films. Josh Lucas had significant roles in The Weight of Water (2001) and Around the Bend (2004).

In some way I resent these films in which the characters, of course, live in a million dollar house deep in wooded suburbia. But then wife Kathy says people watch movies for escape. Good luck on that mortgage!

2005, Could Be Hard To Watch, Dark, Drama, Love Story, Medical Theme, Mystery Film, Sadism, Sex Scenes, Suspense

The Jacket (2005)

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From NetFlix:

John Maybury’s masterful thriller stars Adrien Brody as Jack Starks, a Persian Gulf War veteran who has lost his memories to amnesia. When Jack is accused of a heinous killing, he realizes he must find a way to prove his innocence. Desperate to unearth clues about his past, he seeks a controversial treatment that allows him to go back in time — which turns out to be a heart-wrenching decision when he realizes he’s destined for tragedy.

Take a tablespoon of time-travel, suspense, quasi-sadism, mix together to get “The Jacket”. If you are claustrophobic, you might feel a bit squeamish watching the sadistic (but excellent) Kris Kristofferson subject Adrien Brody to some horrific “treatment” (put into a straight jacket and stuck into a morgue body compartment). Jennifer Jason Leigh plays a sympathetic nurse who can only weakly object to this treatment. While he is so confined, Jack Starks (Brody) travels in time to help and fall in love with Keira Knightley.

Details of the mystery are not too hard to follow and were for me involving enough to hold my attention. With these four such good actors this film is not a complete waste of time.

2003, Complicated, Drama, Drugs, Grim, Medical Theme, Non-physical Violence, Not Feel Good, Nudity, Plot Twist, Prison, Redemption, Religious Theme, Revenge, Sex Scenes, Suspense, Violent, Wonderful acting

21 Grams (2003)

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From NetFlix:

A tragic car accident brings together three strangers — a teacher (Sean Penn) with a weak heart, a former drug addict (Naomi Watts) turned housewife and an ex-con (Benicio Del Toro) who’s found Christ — forcing them to face their darkest fears, reevaluate their lives and seek redemption. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu directed this complex drama that earned Oscar nominations for lead actress Watts and supporting actor Del Toro.

Mexican directory Alejandro González Iñárritu is known for possibly disturbing films such as “Babel”, “Amores Perros”, “21 Grams”, and “Biutiful”. His “Nine Lives” did not please me very much.

“21 Grams” is a jigsaw puzzle. Scene sequences are scrambled and you eventually have to figure out what the complete story really is. Some scenes are repeated such that on a succeeding viewing you finally understand what that scene means. Not that the scrambling is random, rather the non-linear sequencing is done very well. What really keeps the film moving is the sudden changes in scene without any warning. Expect some sudden surprising plot twists.

Violence, infidelity, ill health, forgiveness, and possibly redemption are the major themes.

“Redemption” is debatable because Del Toro’s character possibly never forgives himself for what he has done (we are talking ambiguity here). He certainly was a horrible father in addition to his other shortcomings. His little son does a great job showing that he had to keep himself distant from his capricious and often violent father. His daughter accepts him unconditionally.

Sean Penn seemed to me a basically selfish man, mostly concerned with his identity (“who am I with this newly transplanted heart ?”). He finds it easy to abandon the woman who loves him.

Naomi Watts’ character asks the question: “How possible is it to forgive someone who killed your loved ones ?” Watching her life go down the drain is no fun.

Interest never flags in this intense, worthwhile, demanding film.

2010, Based on true facts, Comedy, Drugs, Explicit sex, Explicit sexual discussion, Feel Good Not For Children, Flirting, Love Story, Medical Theme, Mostly About Sex, Nudity

Love and Other Drugs (2010)

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From NetFlix:

Pharmaceutical representative Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal) becomes a player in the big game of male-performance-enhancement-drug sales and, along the way, finds unexpected romance with a woman (Anne Hathaway) suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Based on the real-life Jamie Reidy’s memoir, Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman, this satirical look inside the culture of Big Pharm is directed by Edward Zwick.

Sex, sex, sex, what fun!

However, there is a bit more to the film. For one thing, the film takes a huge satirical swipe at Big Pharm (most notably Pfizer-Zoloft versus Eli Lilli-Prozac) and especially the antics of its salesmen. More sadly the film highlights the plight of those suffering from Parkinson’s for which presently there is no cure.

Which brings me to ask if this story is just a fairy tale for grownups. Jamie’s encounter with the husband of a Parkinson’s victim in Chicago is frankly brutal and really impressed me about the difficulty of having a partner with Parkinson’s disease. Is it realistic to believe that the womanizer Jamie could settle down to care for Maggie in what could be a horrific future ?

Unfortunately the Wikipedia article does not tell us whether the author Jamie Reidy was involved in any way with Parkinson’s disease.

When this film was made in 2010 Anne Hathaway (“Rachel Getting Married”, “The Devil wears Prada”) was 28 years old and Jake Gyllenhaal (“Donnie Darko”, Brokeback Mountain (2005)) was 30 years old.

At any rate just enjoy the sex scenes, the ribald script, and the feel-good nature of the film. Viagra, anyone ?

2001, Could Be Hard To Watch, Crime, Detective, Drama, Drugs, Horror, Imperfect, Medical Theme, Mystery Film, Occasional gore, Suspense, Violent

From Hell (2001)

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From NetFlix:

Johnny Depp stars as an opium-huffing inspector from Scotland Yard who falls for one of Jack the Ripper’s prostitute targets (Heather Graham) in this Hughes brothers adaption of a graphic novel that posits the Ripper’s true identity. Ian Holm and Robbie Coltrane co-star in this genre-bending drama that marked Albert and Allen Hughes’s laudable attempt to break out of their pigeonhole as “black directors.”

Dark, gory, not Depp’s best. In a sense this is a mystery story: who is Jack the Ripper ? It’s almost as this film goes out of its way to discredit the Victorian power structure and especially the royal family. Give this film a shaky B and find something else.

2009, Acceptable Trash, Comedy, Drugs, Explicit sex, Gay theme, Medical Theme, TV Series

Nurse Jackie (2009)

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From NetFlix:

The great Edie Falco (in a Golden Globe-nominated role) stars as feisty emergency room nurse Jackie Peyton, who boldly navigates the storm of patients, doctors, fellow nurses and her own demons at a New York hospital — occasionally with the aid of unprescribed prescription drugs. A wicked combination of dark comedy and poignant drama, this Showtime series also stars Eve Best, Haaz Sleiman, Merritt Wever, Paul Schulze and Peter Facinelli.

Following the “acceptable trash” tradition of such important TV series like “Arrested Development”, “Nurse Jackie” fits right in there with its mixture of medical cynicism, sexcapades, etc. Throw in some pathos and family drama (e.g. a daughter with anxiety syndrome). Finally there is a heavy emphisis on drug addiction. Nurse Jackie herself is addicted to pain pills and has daily midday sex with the pharmacologist who supplies her with the pills from the hospital storeroom. All of which should paint a picture of total nonsense which is not for everyone.

I LOVE TRASH!