Dying Young

I bought this video in a sale for only £2.50 and although I knew it had Julia Robert in it, I thought that maybe this was going to be another "Firehouse" which.. Well did nothing for me. I turned the video on, lied on he sofa and cried! Very few movies ever make me cry, this being one that has never failed to every time I have seen it.

Hilary O'Neil is hired as a nurse when Victor Geddes' father goes away on business. Eventually, Hilary becomes more than his nurse, she becomes, in my opinion; His reason for living. This movie is a powerful and moving story of one man's need for love and a woman's need simply for a job.

Definitely one to watch!

Every time this movie comes on television, I sit in my bedroom and watch it from start to finish as if it was the first time I've seen it. It is a film that focuses on a man, Victor (Campbell) dying of leukemia and his internal struggles of wanting to be carefree and wanting total companionship from the Hillary (Roberts), the woman he hires to take care of him. Eventually, Victor wishes that he could be well so that Hillary can look at him in a different light; however, Victor cannot see pass his disease to allow anyone to be in his life including his dad and Hillary. He abruptly stops his chemotherapy to go live life and die; however, he does not seem to be living it since he so competitive and wanting to be better than anyone else. You want Victor to be cured of the disease and you want him to be less envious of the well people and to stop worrying about death and just live, which is the whole message of the film. Don't be afraid of death since we all will eventually die and no one knows exact time when death will wrapped them in his arm, which is a very powerful message. Great acting from Campbell and Julia. Great cast. Please watch this film and formulate your own opions.

This movie is a 'sleeper' and not a box office hit, so I nearly did not get it. But I am glad that we saw it! The acting is excellent for the two lead roles: Julia Roberts and Campbell Scott (who played Hamlet and other top notches).

Julia was superb and we admired the fine acting that she did. My wife cried near the end because she herself came very close to dying of cancer (of the liver, was told she had 4 months to live - that was 6 years ago). But it was not a depressing story at all.

This is a quality film. There are no car chases, shoot-outs or cheap sex, just a good solid story by two fine actors. See it.

After 17 years I still love this movie. Campbell Scott was awesome. He was so intense. I love the part at the party where he is watching her from behind the candles. Then when she starts dancing with Gordon and she looks for him and spots him watching her. You can see the love and the ache, and the passion he has for her. His eyes say it all. I wish he would have been in other bigger films. He is a great actor and he played that part so well. It's weird seeing Julia that long ago. She looks different, but yet she looks the same. She was great in this movie also. I didn't want the movie to end as they walked out the door. I wanted to see more, maybe a "1 year later" thing and they have a baby. It still makes me cry every time!!!

To put it simply, the opening third of this film is intense. Quite intense. Campbell Scott's Vincent is a tortured young man who only wants to live enough to prepare himself for death. Julia Roberts' Hillary is essentially her Vivian from Pretty Woman (I hope everyone who sees this film is as unimpressed as I was with the shameless allusion to Pretty Woman when Hillary steps off the bus in -- gasp -- a red suit), but it suits the film well. But the passionate acting from Roberts, yes, but mostly Scott absolutely rends one's heart. When Hillary declares that she thought "this guy was going to die," the audience is right there with her. Scott's performance is so rare and so special during these opening minutes because he is not self-pitying. He is aware of his disease, and he's trying to fight it. He's beyond emotional pain, and as he struggles through the physical pain, we start to feel it too. By the time Victor announces that his treatment is finished and he's ready for a vacation, the audience is ready for one too--it's really too much to watch a character we're instantly so attracted to come so close to death so many times.

However, with the change of scenery comes a change of momentum. This is not surprising considering how emotional the opening third of the movie is--I'm not sure any movie could sustain that degree of intensity for the length of a feature film. Sadly though, the couple's time in the beach house becomes, as one critic put it, a kind of music video which features long shots of "endearing" moments between the two main characters. I would have liked to see more *real* discussions, interactions, etc. between the two than the endless close-ups of their pretty faces. The townsfolk are superfluous--essentially they're stock characters, cut-outs of real people that serve no real purpose in the film. Vincent D'Onofrio's Gordon is the most confusing character of all. He seems to have some sort of flirtation with Hillary, but this is never developed, explained, or resolved. A shame, as it could have added more drama to a section of the film that was sorely lacking in any sort of dramatic effect.

The ending of the movie isn't bad, but it never quite recovers the momentum of the earlier section. However, I find that no matter how much I dislike the middle part of the film, I keep thinking about the film as a whole, and really really liking it. If you're prone to it, this film will probably make you cry. If you're not interested in tears, it's still worth watching because at the very least it will make you appreciate how lucky you are to not be going through what Vincent goes through--not having to make the decisions or sacrifices he makes each day.

I recommend watching it at least once and forming your own opinion.