A Mistake

Banks' Dr. Taylor could've been me, or half the surgeons I've worked with. That little knot of pride trusting you've got the skill, the judgment, the *right* to be in control, until you decide to let someone else take the step you've taken a thousand times. You tell yourself it's mentorship. You tell yourself they're ready. Then you blink, and the patient's gone.

It wasn't the first scenes that hit me. It was the silence afterward. The way people won't meet your eyes in the hallway. The administrative smiles that hide sharpened teeth. The moment you realize the institution will feed you to the wolves if it keeps them out of the headlines. She carried herself exactly like we do when we're trying not to drown shoulders square, voice even, replaying the moment over and over until you think maybe you can reverse time if you find the right frame. I know that replay. I live with my own.

The film left me with this sick pit in my stomach. Not because it's exaggerated, but because it isn't. It's real. One mistake, one lapse, and suddenly your years of service, your reputation, your sense of self, they're all on the table.

In writer / director Christine Jeffs' tv-standard New Zealand medical drama "A Mistake" senior surgeon Elizabeth Banks leads a team in an operation in which an error is made, that MAY have contributed to the patient's death hours later. The patient's parents formally complain, Banks & team are scapegoated by the hospital's administration (led by Simon McBurney (excellent)), and their lives begin to miserably crumble. Being so dry, downbeat, & depressing it was perhaps a mistake for star name Banks to get involved. Its noble message is that healthcare workers are over-worked & under-appreciated, but there must be more effective ways of conveying that.

I'm shocked at the low rating. I think it's a very powerful drama that makes you think what you would do in place of the characters. Maybe it is a little bit slow in action but it kept me in suspense and worry for the characters. Highly recommend it.

Maybe I am biased because I like medical drama and how literally life altering decisions are made. But overall the movie sends a powerful message that can be applicable in all of our everyday lives. I definitely know I am not cut out for a surgeon or any medical professional of any kind. Perhaps those who actually work in the field might disagree with the presentation of events in the film, but again for a movie I think it was great.

We are living in an age of two conditions. On the one hand we have too much information out of context and so, this becomes misinformation. On the other hand we have the withholding of critically important information that could attest truth. In some cases the margins of life and death are defined by one small fact that could have made the difference.

I see people criticising the movie and the acting. I disagree with their opinions and their ratings.

Why?

I have experienced medical malpractice.

A doctor was forced by governmental and hospital rules to prescribe steroid injections for an ocular occlusion, injections directly into the eye that would further exacerbate liver failure and damage the endocrine system.

The alternative was Avastin, a drug used in chemotherapy, the lesser evil and less damaging. Avastin costs only $10 to make but is charged at $1500 per application.i have suffered considerable damage as a direct consequence of the treatments, with no recourse or accountability.

Sure, this movie isn't an action blockbuster. Here we have Elizabeth acting just like a real surgeon. With all the understated mannerisms. Very good acting. Just understated, as it should be for authenticity.

For this reason I think the reviews are unfair.

This is what the medical system is really like.

Political. Manipulative. Selfish.

Administration.

Elizabeth Banks is among my most favorite actresses - her latest movie was a must-see.

But, in hindsight, I am asking why.

1) This movie is set in New Zealand.

First of all, why do so many actors in this movie have an accent which doesn't resemble the Kiwi one? I have loads of friends from New Zealand and none of them sound like in this movie.

If anything, some of the actors sound very British instead.

2) While the premise of the movie is a decent one, the pace of this movie isn't keeping up with it. At times it feels a bit slow and boring.

3) Many of my family members are doctors, nurses or work in key roles in a hospital. While mistakes do happen, the details of the movie aren't likely under many circumstances. The medical devices used, protocols followed, and education/mentorship received is very exact these days and follows a strict regime.

4) Several story elements don't make much sense. Why was it such a big deal that some dog stays with her? How come that a lead surgeon/medical degree holder who isn't into cars drives a BMW E30 (a classic which would need a huge amount of effort/passion/tech to be on the road)? Why the crass language and swearing all the time by a degree-qualified doctor... profanities to show the extreme situation she is in? It can be done with a better script.

Why don't the lead actress and the protege have no chemistry at all?

Elizabeth Banks is still a great actress, but I don't think a medical drama is something she should do often.

Maybe the standards of movie making are lower for films set in New Zealand.