Moviecut—The Doctor

The Doctor

William Hurt is the happy-go-lucky heart and lung surgeon forced to swallow a bitter pill when he develops a malignant tumor in his throat and suddenly has to face the same impersonal treatment he prescribes for his own patients. The film works best when charting his frustration while looking down the wrong end of the stethoscope, but elsewhere Doctor Hurt's internal struggle toward a more compassionate bedside manner is conveyed through soggy domestic melodrama, with an unnecessary digression into the Nevada desert outside Reno for a pas de deux with terminal brain tumor patient Elizabeth Perkins. The script could easily have been trimmed by twenty pages; it would have been more effective (and certainly more concise) without the predictable marriage crisis. But under Randa Haines' direction the film is, thankfully, more sensitive than sentimental, with a totally convincing (and all too familiar) medical background and a first rate cast to recommend it.

I really liked this movie. William Hurt was excellent as a cold surgeon, who although excellent as his job, didn't have a lot of beside manner. He didn't realize how he came across to patients and didn't seem to care. However, it all changes when he is diagnosed with cancer and becomes the patient. The movie also deals with the relationship he has with his family. He doesn't have the emotional connections with his wife and son and in fact doesn't even reveal to her that he is sick at first. He also befriends a fellow cancer patient and has feelings for her and his wife notices. When the physician does become the patient, William Hurt finally realizes what patients experience and this makes him a better person, dad, husband and doctor. The movie is uplifting, not overly sentimental and the acting is phenomenal. I love anything Mr. Hurt is in and he doesn't disappoint with his performance.

I have watched this movie several times and I could watch it again. Each time that I watch I see a little more. If this were about Jack as a doctor, it could have ended with the scene of him tossing the interns the gowns and consigning them to 72 hours of endurance as patients. The movie ends on the roof of the hospital as Jack reads the letter from June. She tells the parable of the farmer and his fences. How the farmer changes his mind and wants the animals to return. He stands in the field and flaps his arms to attract them, but the animals are frightened by the new scarecrow. At first, I did not understand this. Then I thought back to the scene of Jack blowing his whistle and pointing to the board where he has written I need you. For me the movie works not as a story about a doctor who is brought to the light by seeing the world from the viewpoint of the patient. It is about how one cannot live a life alone.

A hidden gem of a movie about a doctor who learns what it's like to be sick and become a patient in his own hospital. William Hurt is fine as Dr. Jack McKee, and Christine Lahti is good as his lonely, hurt wife, but Elizabeth Perkins' performance as June, a fellow patient with Jack in for radiation therapy for her Stage 4 brain tumor is absolutely brilliant. She could've blown it with an over the top performance here, but she finds just the right tone and is really a calming presence throughout her screen time. She even looks good with a shaved head, bless her! I also love the scene (Tearjerker Alert) in which Mr. Maris, a prospective heart transplant patient of Jack asks him if the donor was good hearted or kind hearted and Jack's answer to him. Adam Arkin, Mandy Patinkin, and Wendy Crewson, as a mean-spirited Ear Nose & Throat specialist also deliver strong supporting turns.

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 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.

I was impressed and touched by the movie's theme. I've recommended the movie to friends and acquaintances and those that watch it are also moved. When my wife was hospitalized for leukemia there was an intern who became impatient with my questions and concern. I couldn't help but think that "hey, someday you'll become a patient too. Let's see how you'll handle it." They should have medical students watch this movie. We can become callous at times, that we forget to put ourselves in the shoes of the other person. The movie shows that there are people that stay in our lives so briefly but leave warm and good impressions that last a lifetime.

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.