Constantes vitales

Completely ordinary and boring "drama" of a bunch of third year medical students.

This story is so by the numbers it's insulting. Every character has they own separate little drama and they're all tied up nice and fine by the end of the movie. Every single story line is predictable (as are the outcomes) so it gets incredibly boring just watching it. I also heard there were a lot of errors in terms of the medical dialogue...but I can't swear to that. They have a bunch of very talented actors who are just wasted. All of them struggle with their roles but they're given totally one dimensional characters to work with. No actor could make this work.

I give this a 2 only for the nude and real hot sex sequence between Adrian Pasdar (all pumped up) and Diane Lane (looking great). Still that's no real reason to watch this. Avoid.

Although some scenes are over-dramatized, the film, as a whole, accurately depicts the cut-throat competition in medical school, as opposed to another critic's opinion that it was less accurate than the movie, Gross Anatomy, which in my opinion, was the furthest away from reality.

Some scenes in Vital Signs imply that medical school students in their third year (the first year out of the classroom) have more authority and autonomy than what is true in reality. But the film shows the human side of medicine and that medicine isn't an exact science. Physicians can practice and study for years and still not completely understand the human body.

The relationships in the movie are very realistic, especially with Kenny Rose and his wife. Medical school (and medicine in general) takes up a great deal of personal time, which can be damaging to a relationship. The "hanky-panky" between Michael and Gena happens all the time. The relationship between Michael and his father is realistic as well. Sometimes the profession consumes the physician and without knowing it, harms the family life.

Again, I found this film to be a realistic portrayal of medical school. In fact, I have this film on tape and watch it from time to time to motivate me in my medical career. I would recommend this movie to anyone in the medical field, especially students thinking about medical school.

Why is it that movies about medical school always have the same formula for their characters (reference this movie, Gross Anatomy, Patch Adams...more)? There always has to be the hot-shot male lead for whom everything comes easy...except the good looking, no-nonsense female student, who feels like she has to work harder than everyone else to make up for the fact that she is a woman (and therefore has no time for men). Then there is the wacky friend, and as always there is the uptight, male student we all hate, who works really hard, but just can't seem to beat the protagonist. Surely there is some other way to develop interesting characters in this setting.

Either way, coming from the perspective of a current medical student, I found this movie to be far more interesting, realistic, and believable than any of the other aforementioned movies (yes, I know P.A. was a true story...my statement stands). Granted, you will be infinitely more likely to find third year medical students transporting stool samples and chasing down fast food for their residents than scrubbing in and performing abdominal surgery.

I found the student/patient, student/student, student/resident relationships to be very well developed and believable. The script was interesting, upbeat, and gave a good look at the tempo and pressure of third year. There were plenty of plot intricacies to keep you "tuned in" throughout the movie. The cast is short on big names, but I believe well cast, and believable as students(I've read that they shadowed medical students before filming).

I wouldn't say that this movie is a must-see, but it is the most accurate depiction of medical school that I have seen, and there probably isn't a physician out there whose stomach won't tense up a bit when the attending physicians begin "pimping" the students on Grand Rounds.

Michael's blue crop top in the end scene is my favorite styling moment in the last 50 years *chef's kiss*

Tries to be Gross Anatomy; does an okay job. It's like Gross Anatomy Part II, but the cast isn't as good. Still, it has its moments and is in the very least entertaining.