Werner Ernst is a young hospital resident who becomes embroiled in a legal battle between two half-sisters who are fighting over the care of their comatose father. But are they really fighting over their father's care, or over his $10 million estate? Meanwhile, Werner must contend with his nutty supervisor, who insists that he only care for patients with full insurance. Can Werner sidestep the hospital's legal team and do what's best for the patient?
Sterben und erben, En estado crítico, O Impaciente, Se mi amate, Интенсивная терапия, טיפול נמרץ, 医院人生, En estat crític, Teholla
USAR
Germany12
Germany
USA
Action! - Lumet/Pollack: The Fight of the Century
Kind of a very disappointing film considering the enormous talent involved. I mean, you've got Rick Baker doing special make-up effects, you've got a fantastic ensemble that includes names like James Spader, Albert Brooks, Margo Martindale, Jeffrey Wright, Anne Bancroft, and DAME HELEN MIRREN! And with Sidney Lumet at the helm. The cinematography is done by Oscar winner David Watkin. Despite this, the entire film looks and feels like the dullest episode of a cheap medical-centric sitcom like Scrubs, that somehow managed to get a big budget and a very "prestige" cast. Except that the humour and look of Scrubs is far more superior. Don't get me wrong: everyone here gives their…
Unfortunately this is seriously tin-eared, even while I completely agree with its takes on for-profit medicine, right-to-die concerns, and medical bureaucracy. But I feel like this isn't a place for the mix of farce, occasional surreality, and blistering sincerity that Lumet's been chasing to one degree or another since NETWORK (he tried it with POWER too, and that also didn't quite work). Another problem: Spader and Sedgwick are wildly miscast, directed arch amongst a murderer's row of supporting performers hitting cleanup and mostly playing straight (Albert Brooks disguised as Walter Matthau I don't know how I feel about). I would have preferred the movie about Helen Mirren's crisis of care with Jeffrey Wright's dying-in-agony patient. Not expressly terrible but so little of it works.
Critical Care. 1997. Directed by Sidney Lumet.
Sidney Lumet’s “Critical Care” is a great film about “end of life” care and how important it is to have a living will and a last will and testament. This film exposed the underbelly of the contemporary medical system in the form of hospitals, doctors, and insurance companies. Moreover, it demonstrated how doctor’s can get caught in the crossfire of legal battles brought about by the patient’s relatives. Furthermore, it showed how greed motivated the entire capitalistic medical system.
I watched the film for James Spader and Helen Mirren. I stayed because the thesis is pertinent and this film is comical and informative.
Viewed on HBOMAX
Sometimes you just need a good director to give you the goods. By some metric no, this movie isn't super ambitious or hard-hitting and doesn't end in despair like so many Lumet classics. It starts out as a leisurely day in the life of Dr. James Spader, doing his rounds in the Critical Care Unit at his hospital, bantering with nurse Helen Mirren, hoping for selection into a prestigious program with veteran doc Philip Bosco, wondering about the coma patient in room 5 and his flirtatious daughter Kyra Segdwick, trying to stay cool during visits to aging addle-brained hospital administrator Albert Brooks. A story slowly materializes around the ethics and legalities of taking the coma patient off life support, which…
“Six people saw this movie. I don’t even think Sidney saw the final cut.” -Albert Brooks
Critical Care is probably the deepest Sidney Lumet cut there is. You haven't seen this film, and for good cause; it's right on the precipice that overlooks the rubbish dump. The first mistake made is that for this ostensible comedy, boy did they pick the wrong director. It's a similar error in judgement as hiring Tony Scott to replace Martin Brest on Beverly Hills Cop II (1987); that's a great looking film with fun action, but the only thing it's not is funny. So when you want laughs, would the man who made 12 Angry Men (1957), Fail Safe (1964) and Serpico (1973) be the first or even 100th name you thought of? Ok, so there was some jet black…
If you didn't know beforehand who directed this, you'd probably have no idea that it was from Sidney Lumet. "Critical Care" isn't an awful film by any means but it's a bit of a mess. It feels like 3 different movies in 1 and I found the subplot involving Jeffery Wright and Helen Miren to be a lot more interesting than the main story. The performances are all good here, James Spader makes for a strong lead & Albert Brooks is hysterical in his small role, and it's got some really interesting ideas but it never quite comes together unfortunately.
1997 Ranked
Sidney Lumet Ranked
Sidney Lumet does a great job in terms of visual and pace with Critical Care, but the tone doesn't always work. Sometimes the film is an old-man makeup Albert Brooks as a drunk money grubbing doctor named Butz, and sometimes it is a heavy pull-the-plug or not drama. Spader is caught in the middle, and he's good as a pondering doctor, but the script leaves him a little in the lurch, stuck between these two tones. That said, he's got a good speech at the end, a fairly clever way to solve the film's core conflict, and a glimmer of hope. Not one of Lumet's best, but Lumet was one of the best.
