Vítima Perfeita

A very good movie with the beautiful Francie Swift and the talented Luke Perry. very interesting and unusual argument, very well performed until the end. The end of the movie is not I spared, is an end that the viewer leaves with an unpleasant taste throughout the plot and content of the movie. But in any case, this judgment is at the discretion of each one.

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

This is a response to the first comment. The annoying mucous dripping down her face and the productive cough is what a person living with cystic fibrosis deals with. This movie was very realistic when it came to the symptoms of CF. I am a survivor of CF due to a double lung transplant. Very health 32 year old woman who is very successful. As for the ending of the movie: It was quite strange and fortunately did not happen to me. Plus the way his wife got her lungs was also far fetched. In real life this does not happen. I was a bit confused as to why the movie ended the way it did. I think the movie could have been a bit more thought out dealing with reality. It was definitely far fetched but did keep me tuned in.

Very few movies address cystic fibrosis at all. This is one of the few that does, and does so in an effective fashion. You may think mucus is really "icky" and "gross" but it's a very real part of CF. People show cancer patients vomiting in movies all the time. This is NO different.

As for the sex, it's to illustrate another very real part of CF. Breathing gets in the way of *everything*. Sex goes from being a joy, to being difficult, to being a chore, to being impossible. Being that sex is such a big part of most married couples' lives, it makes sense that it was addressed. I wonder if the director knew someone with CF, because of how well it was handled. The CFer's spouse was constantly worried, and freaked out if his wife was so much as 15 minutes late. Their sex was difficult. Many things in this movie were done well, in regards to the CF.

Not my favorite movie, as I don't much like the way it ended, among other things. But I had to comment about people who complained about the really "icky" mucus. It's real. You don't even have to deal with it. Until your spouse is the one choking on that much mucus, you have no place to call it gross.

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.