Ways of the Flesh

I worked in a hospital for several years and commend this film in its ability to realistically portray the life of an intern and resident at such an institution. I was also impressed with how well the characters were portrayed by the talented actors in the film. Zoe Saldana made her character so interesting and likable, that I could easily see her as someone cool to hang out with.

Wood Harris and Brian White have great chemistry on the screen. Kenny Choi's character goes through an amazing progression. Mya surprises us all with an amazing performance and Scot Paulin along with David Lee play characters that you love to hate.

It was good to see a film that promoted the concept of African Americans in professional positions - without the stereotypical implications of gangs and violence. The story was touching and inspirational for anyone in any circumstances to feel good about what they do and to believe in themselves.

Hopefully, as this country and the world becomes more diverse, this film will not be disregarded and more films like this will gain exposure in all audiences across the board. I think it is very important that this film gets the recognition that it deserves.

Watched 20 minutes of this last night and stopped. My wife and I both agreed that nothing could save this film so why continue with the torture of watching. I understood the plot but the way they went about it was brutal. The transitions between scenes were horrible. It seemed to jump from one scene to another without any connection. Wood Harris was not the best actor to be cast in his part. I saw nothing positive out of this film to keep my interest. I love Zoe Saldana, but this will be just a tiny bump on her career. I feel for those who went to see it and had to sit there and suffer. I'm glad it was on Showtime so I simply just changed the channel.

I have seen many reviewers like this film because it avoids the typical stereotypes and negative images that some films, built around a Black cast, tend to lean on. I say look at "Love Jones", "Love and Basketball", "The Best Man" and "Brown Sugar" as films that gave us a well rounded script which is built on all aspects of Black culture. If you are looking for the Indie style of film with a Black cast, I have enjoyed "Hav Plenty" and "I'm Through with White Girls." I've seen flaws with these films also but I would recommend them. As for "The Heart Specialist", I love seeing our people on the big screen, but I personally cannot recommend this film to anyone.

I saw the movie recently during the Boston Film festival. The movie was very entertaining and is something that I believe the world, and black America is ready to see. It has comedy,drama, the soundtrack is great. It is an all around good film. The characters were well developed, and the movie had a wide variety of prominent actors, such as Wood Harris(Remember the Titains, Paid in Full), Brian J. White (Trois 3, Mr 3000), and the wonderful Zoe Saldana(Drumline, Pirates of the Caribbean). The movie tackles many relevant topics in todays society in a short period of time, and does so with class and grace. This is not only a story about life in the hospital, however it is a story about people and their personal journey to discovering who they are, or who they are going to be.

So I don't ruin it for you, I'll be very brief. There's some great acting and funny lines from the attractive cast. A young graduate of Harvard Med School (Brian White) finds out he doesn't know as much as he thinks about people. He goes to a small hospital in Florida for his internship because a girlfriend (Mya) left him for a job as a TV Producer. His Senior Resident (Wood Harris), helped marvelously by his 'creative collaborator'(Zoe Saldana) bring him up to speed. They help protect his career and show him the wider possibilities that come from being a compassionate doctor instead of a player who just wants to make money (as seems to be true for many of my pre-med friends).

Tangie85 wrote: "I had to give this film a 10 simply because it did what so many films thrown at black audiences have FAILED MISERABLY to do. This film was void of all the video whore clichés, and it also skipped the gangsters, rappers, and foul language. It examined several relationships among physicians, African Americans, and African American male/female romantic relationships on a completely new and refreshing level." This is simply an EXCELLENT MOVIE, and as I watched it (before reading the above review), I was continually amazed at the intelligence manifested, without the ubiquitous African American stereotypes. Truly "a completely new and refreshing level" -- and first released 5 years ago in 2006! The director/writer (Dennis Cooper) & everyone involved deserves kudos. Thank you all for such a great movie. Special kudos to Zoe Saldana in 2006; we can see why you started getting top billings in blockbusters! So many movies are truly "blaxsploitation" movies, but as the other reviewer said, this is just a WHOLE NEW LEVEL. We were able to look at the real motives of the movie-maker, without being dragged and diverted into well-overdone stereotypes. My wife and I are now renting it for the second time! Again, thank you to all involved for this EXCELLENT PRODUCTION! A WONDERFUL film! By the way, I think Hollywood needs to take a fresh look at Mr. Cooper. Good viewing!