Um Golpe do Destino

The efficient surgeon Dr. Jack MacKee (William Hurt) is a successful, wealthy and indifferent man, married to but distant from his wife Anne (Christine Lahti) and their son Nicky. When Jack is diagnosed with a growth in his throat, he is submitted to radiation therapy and feels how patients are treated and exposed in the hospital. He befriends the fellow patient June Ellis (Elizabeth Perkins), who has incurable brain tumor, and she gives a lesson of life to him. But his treatment does not work and Jack needs to be submitted to a surgery. What will happen to him?

"The Doctor" is a sensitive drama with a magnificent story of a doctor that changes his values when he understands the perspective of patients after becoming one with cancer. William Hurt, Christine Lahti and Elizabeth Perkins have wonderful performances and the story is never corny despite the pleasant conclusion. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Um Golpe do Destino" ("A Strike of the Destiny")

A truly solid cast delivers a moving drama filled with humor and emotion. This could be the single best exploration of the theme of "empathy" ever filmed.

This film should be required viewing for any training or development on health care, communication, leadership, and service. Watch this the same week you watch "Patch Adams" and you'll be a better person emotionally for it.

This movie came out about a year before I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and I watched it during my recovery from surgery and radiation treatments. It helped me to understand the relationship between doctor and cancer patient. William Hurt is indeed excellent in this film, but I have always liked his understated presence and aloof yet empathetic evocations. Recently, a colleague was diagnosed with a serious cancer and he continues to undergo his treatments. I think the American medical community has made great improvements in the emotional component of care for cancer patients, but in 1992 Hurt's portrayal was close enough to echo my observations of how I was cared for then.

So, though it's a bit of a tearjerker and has a happy ending that reality will not always produce, I think it is a meaningful film and especially for those who are facing a serious diagnosis or caring for those who are.

The Doctor may not be the most moving, most influential, or best portrayed movie of all time, but it certainly should rank near the top of the best medical movies of all time. The story is about Dr. Jack MacKee (William Hurt), an arrogant heart surgeon whose believes that doctors should "Get in, fix it, and get out". However, when he finds himself diagnosed with cancer, he must see the system from the other side - a mechanized, unsympathetic system where the patient's comfort is the least concern. The story complicates when he befriends a fellow cancer patient, June Ellis (Elizabeth Perkins), who proves to be an inspirational figure in Jack's battle against cancer.

The movie could be deemed a transformation story. At first, Jack is an unlovable character - the doctor we all wish we didn't have. However, as he continues through his ordeal, his attitude begins to change. It is a profound change, and provides for many deep, moving scenes.

The story itself is not complicated, and is easy to follow. The acting, however, is top notch, and makes for a terrific movie. I would recommend it to anybody.

The premise seemed a little too straightforward at first glance: Doctor becomes patient. But it is so well executed, you can't help but be drawn in. I kept suspecting it was going to turn sappy at any moment, but director Randa Haines does not hold back on the emotional awkwardness that comes from difficult situations. There is much less sentimentality than Haines' best-known film, Children of a Lesser God. And although Hurt is far less "charming" in this film than he was in that one, he actually is more watchable. The more difficult he becomes, the more interesting the film gets.

Another intriguing aspect of the film is the feelings Chritine Lahti's character experiences, from sympathy to anger, to jealousy, to feeling shut out, you name it. In fact, the film could have delved even deeper into their marital discord and it would not have lost me. For some this film may go down a little too easily, but I think the accessibility of the subject matter in this case is an asset.