Medidas extremas

Entertaining, but a lot like "coma" with Michael Douglas. Nothing really original in the movie, apart from the fact that the main person doesn't happen to get into a relationship during the movie and all that sort of sideline nonesense. Funny to see Hugh Grant just cannot help playing an insecure character even if he is playing someone who succeeds in at a very difficult task by being very determined. Moral issues, goodies & baddies with a little nuance, violent climax, happy end.

With an Above Average Script from Tony Gilroy and a Surprisingly Effective Against Type Performance from Hugh Grant, this is an Intense Thriller with Ethical Questions and Moral Dilemmas that have No Easy Answers.

It's those Difficult Questions the Movie Asks that makes this the kind of Movie that isn't made often. The Thriller Format is much more Popular and Easily Digested when this Type of Thinking is Not Required. Taxing the Brain is Not Formulaic for the Popcorn Crowd and it doesn't Sell Tickets.

This one is Noble in its Efforts and some Suspension of Disbelief is Required. There are a Few Scenes, most Notably when Grant's Doctor Submerges to the Bowels of the City, that Strain for Realism and one of the Few Times when the Film seems a bit too Hollywood.

But Most of the Movie Plays out some Twists and Turns that are Surprising and the quick Pacing Helps the Film Deal with the Malpractice Elements and the "God Complex" more Easily.

Overall, it is a Thinking Man's Thriller with Good Performances and Good Writing and is only Brought Down a Bit by the Contrived Situations Necessary to make it all Fit into a Two Hour Running Time.

I just watched this movie on TV and my mind is reeling with the ethical dilemma it raises. I thought I'd watch it while I did the ironing but I only got a couple of items done because I was glued to the movie!

I must admit also I wondered what sort of a job Hugh Grant would do in a role much more serious than we usually see, but...surprise! He is thoroughly convincing as a young surgeon troubled by some things that don't add up in the Emergency Room, troubled enough to investigate further, risking his career and ultimately his life to find out what is going on.

Definitely worth a look!

A thriller in the medical world. Generally, doctors abide by the Hippocratic Oath - roughly summarized as "to do good or to do no harm". Hugh Grant as the English Doctor strives to uphold this. Gene Hackman plays the role of the medical researcher, now head of a powerful medical research foundation that can influence police and politicians, believes that medical research is more important than "to do no harm" if in the long run research does provide valuable improvements to medicine. Hackman is the ominous shadow of the German Nazi doctors, 1935-1945, such as Josef Mengele, who carried out abominable medical experiments in order to promote so-called medical advancement. Thus the conflict between Grant and Hackman: Grant the loner, a promising English doctor - a follower of the Hippocratic Oath, thus the moral man, is working temporarily in America to gain valuable medical experience. Hackman, the countervailing force, the ominous medical power with wide ranging influence in public power circles, controls the lives of his captured patients in underground "catacombs", disregarding their concerns in order to achieve his results for the "benefit of mankind" . Sudden deaths, escapes, mysterious liaisons, threats, moral arguing (but only a little as this in a modern American film - historically there was plenty of moral arguing), shootings, and of course plenty of blood are the powerful ingredients to this cocktail. Grant certainly knows how to play convincingly other roles than those "English" ones which rocketed him to the top. Hackman as always is a master of his role. Well worth seeing!

Very exciting film with lots of surprises. Not really all that original, I have run across the story of the mad doctor wanting to play God before. Still it was well done, and the ending left me wondering..... Hugh Grant and Gene Hackman were, as usual, flawless in their performances, as was the entire cast.