White Coats

This movie will be dismissed for political reasons. There are a few laughs at the expense of characters that certain reviewers want to see only in an elevated light. But Intern Academy as a film improves as it goes along. The look is at first kind of washed out, but eventually there are some more pleasing sets. I had heard this was shot on video, but I could not tell as I watched it opening day. Purely, I supported it because Dave Thomas deserves a hit, and he has the same birthday as me. Also, I appreciate his critical views of the media in his interviews for this film. I do think that he miscast himself a little bit in this film. Although Danny is shown in his requisite sunglasses and banging a drum in one scene, he and Thomas should have switched characters. He might be more believable as a cold authority figure teaching students and rattling off lists of maladies, whereas Dave Thomas is best as kind of a weasel or prankster or buffoon - which is especially evident when he runs. Dave Foley is right on the money as a smug, egotistical heart specialist, though it is jarring to see him in gray hair - especially because it is believable.

The movie likes to wallow, and the organ storage fight is a bit unbelievable, as is the mouth examination scene which contains Maurey Chaykin's excellent cameo performance. That character could have been more central, accidentally embarrassing people. Even though the girl who is embarrassed would have known better. Good enough, and especially welcome as a Canadian film that is just funny and not pretentious.

First of all, let me say that I was one of the few people in the theater the weekend this came out and that surprised me because, although this is not the best movie ever made, it was far from the worst. Without a Paddle is a good example of what I'm talking about. Intern Academy was WAY funnier that that movie and WAY more people went to see that piece of crap. So how come so few people came out to see Intern Academy? I guess it's the usual Canadian thing where a Canadian Distributor thinks if they put fifty bucks into promoting something, they've given it their best shot. Well too bad for Intern Academy because it deserved better. Starting with the title which put it in a league with Police Academy which has now produced 6 or 7 movies and, as always is the case, the farther down the sequel line they go, the worse the movies become. So giving it that title was definitely a bad idea. I read an interview where Dave Thomas said he didn't like that title and it was forced on him by the distributor. Figures. Also where were the TV commercials? I didn't see a single one. And the ad in the paper was pathetic. I almost didn't go when I saw that tiny little ad because it made me think that they were ashamed of it. All in all, the cast was good and although there were some gratuitous sex jokes and gory parts, the movie had a nice likable tone to it. The girls were cute and the guys were okay (I'm not gay). And the older doctors played by Thomas, Dan Aykroyd, Dave Foley and Maury Chakin were pretty good. I had a lot of laughs which is more than I can say for a lot of American movies that I have seen in the past few years. I would say go check it out, but the movie is gone from the theaters already. Too bad. It deserved a better shot.

We might well ask why anyone bothered to make INTERN ACADEMY when we have SCRUBS, but so be it. Dave Thomas, formerly of SCTV, directed and costars. Dan Ackroyd is also aboard in a small role, along with Dave Foley, late of KIDS IN THE HALL. A bunch of generic young interns get a taste of hospital life at a crumbling facility. Typical hijinks ensue, including a bawdy Christmas party and an incredibly gross organ fight that ends with something very wet and very squishy splattering all over Thomas' face. The climax is a direct steal from POLICE ACADEMY, but that's OK, too. The actors playing the interns are likable enough, and the females in the cast are all drop-dead gorgeous and quick to get drunk and down and dirty and sometimes even naked (which is the way I remember my student years working as an orderly at a mid-size hospital). INTERN ACADEMY, called WHITE COATS on TV, definitely is no SCRUBS. But it will do in a pinch. It's like watching one of those mindless winter ski movies, especially the one with Lee Majors.

The St. Albert's Teaching Hospital, considered the worst in the public health system and administrated by the corrupt Dr. Cyrill Kipp (Dan Aykroyd), receives a new group of interns: the clumsy Mike Bonnert (Peter Oldring), whose parents are prominent doctors and forced him to study in medical school; the wolf Dale Dodd (Pat Kelly), who has come to the hospital to meet women and falls in love for the nurse Cynthia Skyes (Lynda Boyd); Marlon Thomas (Viv Leacock), who like to play pranks with his mates; Mira Towers (Ingrid Kavelaars), who aims to be a great surgeon; Christine Lee (Jane McLean), a very efficient student and promising doctor; and Mitzi Cole (Christine Chatelain), who works as stripper to pay for her medical school and becomes Mike's girlfriend. Leaded by Sarah Calder (Carly Pope), the group spends the year learning how to become medical doctors in an environment of lots of confusion.

I loved the unknown and underrated "Intern Academy". The silly story s hilarious, with many politically incorrect gags and jokes about urban legends in a public hospitals, like for example, the corrupt administrator that sells the equipment to raise money; or the student with sperm in her mouth; or the colostomy bag exploding in the face of an intern; or the arrogant doctor; or the lack of respect with the corpse of a John Doe; or the man that arrives with a doll in his rectum; or the promiscuous woman with herpes and other sexual diseases kissing the guy she has just met in the waiting room. There are many other jokes, but one of my favorites is the stupid Ukrainian charwoman that unplugs the life support system of patients to plug the floor polisher. Another one that I laughed a lot is when the clumsy Mike Bonnert goes to the waiting room where three families are waiting news about their beloved relative and Mike commits a series of mistakes. The team of actresses is extremely beautiful and sexy and the actors are very funny. I did not feel the 98 minutes running time; actually I expected to have more. I really recommend this movie for days where the viewer is down or upset to relax. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Os Estagiários" ("The Interns")

This movie was a lot better than I thought it would be. This film was killed by critics who were obviously expecting a lot more. Expecting not much at all because of those reviews, it became apparent this movie deserved far better. Every joke was great, the setup and executions were flawless. Dave Thomas' character was very strong, not the idiocy I expected. The main cast of new interns all did a quality job, and I'm looking forward to seeing them all in the future in other endeavors. There was some very intelligent sketching going on. It peaks near a moment when an intern must inform a family of failed operation resulting in death. This joke was long, drawn out and agonizingly funny in a Fawlty Towers sort of way. Then it instantly shifts back to low-brow slapstick. This can be disconcerting for some, but they throw so many jokes at you so fast, you quickly get right into their groove. This is polished comedy brought to you by the masters of the craft.

What wasn't so great was the movie part. They spent the whole budget on the cast, because the set and the costumes all looked "C" grade, maybe even porn movie bad. Dan Akroyd as the partying hospital administrator had me thinking he was skimming hospital funds, right from the beginning, but that is not the case. His character needed just a few lines of justification for his lifestyle and it would be easier to identify with. Matt Frewer's character was interesting, but bordering on unbelievable. They probably cut his believability in favor of outrageousness.

If you are a fan of modern National Lampoon movies, then you should see this one, it's much better. This isn't a "Classic", but it's a great movie to put on when you've brought friends home after a night at the pub.