Le grand simulateur

A nifty little psychological thriller about a fake doctor in an English hospital. His first night on the emergency room is a tautly paced piece of film-making as he knows nothing about how to help accident victims, one who has a nasty looking cut on his hand and who the "doctor" ignorantly and with frightening incompetence, grabs the wrong way. It's wincing to watch. The movie doesn't take too much advantage of the most obvious situation, but delves into the hospital culture and relations among doctors, as well his relationship with a nurse. It's the girls all along that he really wanted, and being a doctor was a sure ticket to a more lively sex life. He was an orderly before, working in a hospital laundry room, and though quite intelligent (maybe he could have actually become a doctor the old-fashioned way), has a mean and devious streak in him, that one senior physician detects right off, but that eludes others. The movie could have gone for more shock value with his encounters with patients, but instead develops his weird character living a double life.

If the plot of this movie is somewhat simple, the execution (!) is utterly fantastic. I went to this movie in the cinema when it came out not knowing what we were going to see (I think we walked into the wrong theater!!) What we got was the film of the century, thrilling and gripping and the thought of this really happening made it even more chilling. McGann is fantastic as he realises his "dream". Donohoe gets better and better as the movie moves along and her realisation that her position changes is cleverly acted. Why this movie has not received rave reviews over the years baffles me. Channel 4 have shown it 2 or 3 times and it must come out on DVD. Whilst it is set in the late 80s early 90s, it is pretty timeless. The message is simply don't get sick just in case.....! Enjoy

"Paper Mask" is a very effective little medical thriller, well acted and compellingly written. Paul McGann ("Withnail & I", "Alien 3") stars as Matthew Harris, an orderly in a hospital who aspires to bigger things. When a doctor whom Matthew resembles perishes in a traffic accident, Matthew decides to assume his identity. Now, he's "Dr. Simon Hennessy", and manages to get hired at a different hospital despite his lack of extensive medical knowledge. Entering into a relationship with a sexy nurse (Amanda Donohoe, "Lair of the White Worm"), Matthew / Simon has a very rough start at his new job, but is able to improve his job performance through study. But he won't be able to cover up his deception forever......

An intelligent film with something to say about ambition, and the protection of image & reputation, "Paper Mask" is quite gripping, especially once the story (John Collee scripted, based on his novel) is well underway and it starts to get quite dark and nasty. While McGann is able to make his character engaging, there's no hiding the fact that he's lacking in the compassion factor, something that the officious Dr. Thorn (Tom Wilkinson, "The Grand Budapest Hotel") has picked up on early in the game. When Matthew makes the decision to cold-bloodedly remove an obstacle in his path, any sympathy he might have earned before is completely gone.

More squeamish viewers will wince at the scenes in which Matthew mishandles various accident victims, and at shots of needles being inserted into hands and arms. That moment of the "doctor" trying to "help" a man with a bad hand wound is particularly distressing. But the overall film is just so good that viewers will find it worth their time to stick with it.

The acting is right on point, with the amiable McGann scoring as this rather immoral antagonist. Donohoe delivers one of her best film performances. The two of them are well supported by Wilkinson, Frederick Treves ("The Elephant Man"), Barbara Leigh-Hunt ("Frenzy"), and Jimmy Yuill ("Mary Shelley's Frankenstein").

As of this writing, there are only 10 reviews for "Paper Mask" at IMDb. So clearly it remains a little-known film that hasn't gotten its due. Producer / director Christopher Morahan ("Clockwise") and company definitely knew what they were doing, opening with McGann enjoying the strains of the classic Platters song "The Great Pretender".

Eight out of 10.

Went to see this movie by mistake when we just fancied a movie one night - turns out this is in my top 5 ever (although can't put it on FB because it isn't listed!!!). Gotta be the single most underrated movie of all time. Grips you, chills you, excites you and then spits you out - if you can sleep after this one then you don't care about a thing!! Paul McGann is almost accidentally brilliant, and it is so well put together. I haven't written anything here about any other movie, just Paper Mask. Goes to show that it's publicity and marketing that makes you or breaks you..... Anyway, if this is out on DVD (doubt it - it doesn't even have a Wikipedia listing - disgraceful!), then it's a no brainer. When I lived in the UK Channel 4 showed it a couple of times and so I probably have it on a VHS somewhere, but sadly don't have an active VHS recorder anymore!!

Paul McGann and Amanda Donohoe give convincing performances as respectively, hospital porter Matthew Harris who steps into the shoes of a recently qualified medical student, now deceased, and the nurse whom is gradually drawn into the deceit in this gripping story that can't fail to leave you with a slight sense of unease about the medical profession. He gets away with a disastrous first day in A&E partially because it had not been unknown for previous students with the right qualifications to panic in that way. Later when responsible for the death of a patient and being absolved by the medical establishment, he's surrounded by back-slapping junior colleagues - we've all done it mate - sort of thing. Even the sceptical Dr Thorn (Tom Wilkinson) whom has sensed that Harris is a hollow man from the start, finally keeps his thoughts to himself rather than rock the boat. Toward the end the story relies a little on coincidence, and ignores altogether how Harris could have got away with his deception with the tax authorities for instance, but these are minor quibbles. Paper Mask is a film deserving a much higher profile.