Lifebreath

A little disgusted at all the productive coughing and mucus dripping throughout the film, and I was annoyed at how unsure I was as to whether Luke Perry's wife watched him during the throws of passion with Gale, or if it was a director's maneuver to show us that she suspected. A few too many abstractions there. Why did Chrystie meet up with Gale? This interlude seemed odd. An interesting plot, but the acting bothered me.

Doesn't really contain any spoliers, but read at your own risk:

This movie is an exercise in futility. It had a wonderful premise: Wife needs transplant, Husband will do anything to make sure she gets it.

However, the execution of the script was poor. There are numerous unneeded scenes of sex with A LOT of flesh (but no nudity -- go figure). The dialog was trite and not believable. There are characters that appear briefly to move the story along with no explanation of who they are.

And the ending. No spoiler, but you could see it coming RIGHT at you -- and unfortunately it couldn't be dodged. The last 2 minutes of the film are painfully inane and hard to watch.

An interesting little movie that comes partly undone by the ending. Luke Perry does a fine job as a husband who is willing to do anything to help keep his ailing wife alive. She suffers from cystic fibrosis and needs a lung transplant. He devises a plan that might get her one but she's not sure she approves. An ending that seems to come from nowhere undermines a lot of what the movie was striving for.

Manhattan psychics teacher Luke Perry (as Martin "Marty" Devoe) becomes increasing frustrated with efforts to find an organ donor for pretty full-lipped Francie Swift (as Chrystie). His wife is dying from Cystic Fibrosis and needs a lung transplant desperately. Donors are rare in her AB blood type, so Mr. Perry decides to take matters into his own hands. He considers "buying" an organ on the black market, but the Chinese aren't offering lungs to Americans. Volunteering to solicit blood donations leads Perry to sexy AB type Gia Carides (as Gale Pullman); but, how far will they go to secure "Lifebreath" for Ms. Swift?

This is an unexpectedly taut thriller from new director P.J. Posner, who keeps it intriguing throughout. The cast is excellent, with Perry particularly impressive in the lead. His loving, conflicted husband is able to carry the film, grabbing your interest while walking a moral tightrope. Around this time, Perry temporarily left his "90210" TV address to try big screen movie stardom; it didn't happen, but "Lifebreath" showed his potential. Swift's sickly wife is more subtly impressive, as you'll discern by watching expressions and considering her motives carefully. The ending disappoints, but Jeremy Davenport's jazzy tune helps.

******* Lifebreath (11/7/97) P.J. Posner ~ Luke Perry, Francie Swift, Gia Carides, Gary Basaraba

I think that I've watched well over 500 000 movies and this ranks well above most of them.

It's one of the best movies I've ever watched and look forward to seeing more films in this style.

I love the writing, story and everything about it.

With a bigger budget, more publicity would have taken this to be a more well known film.

Wow...

When you want something that is fresh and doesn't contain Brad Pitt or Angelie Jolie - try this one.