Doctors & Patients

Steel Magnolias (Special Edition)

Based on Robert Harling's play, this comedy-drama directed by Herbert Ross (The Turning Point) follows several years in the lives of women who regularly see one another at a beauty shop in their small Louisiana town. The story deepens as Julia Roberts, playing a serious diabetic and the daughter of Sally Field, goes downhill in her health. But as an ensemble piece, this is one of those enjoyably lumpy tearjerkers with many years' worth of stored truths suddenly being shared between the characters, lots of grievances aired, that sort of thing. Daryl Hannah and Shirley MacLaine assume the most eccentric roles, Dolly Parton the most fun, and Olympia Dukakis the most dignified, while Sally Field essentially provides the moral and emotional center of the movie. --Tom Keogh

Six divas of the silver screen -- Sally Field Dolly Parton Shirley MacLaine Daryl Hannah Olympia Dukakis and Julia Roberts -- come together as bosom buddies in this hilarious and heartwarming story of life love and loss in a small Louisiana Parish. At the center of the group is Shelby Eatenton (Julia Roberts) newly married and joyfully pregnant despite the fact that her diabetes could make childbirth life-threatening. Terrified and angry at the possibility of losing her only daughter M Lynn Eatenton (Sally Field) looks to her four closest friends for strength and laughter as she battles her deepest fears of death in order to join Shelby in celebrating the miracle of new life.System Requirements:Starring: Olympia Dukakis Sally Field Daryl Hannah Shirley MacLaine Dolly Parton Julia Roberts Dylan McDermott Kevin J. O Connor Sam Shepard and Tom Skerritt. Directed By: Herbert Ross Running Time: 119 Min. Color. This film is presented in "Widescreen" format. Copyright 2000 Columbia TriStar Home Video.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG UPC: 043396702479 Manufacturer No: 70247

Something the Lord Made

(Drama) Something the Lord Made tells the emotional true story of two men who defied the rules of their time to launch a medical revolution set against the backdrop of the Jim Crow south. Working in 1940s Baltimore on an unprecedented technique for performing heart surgery on "blue babies" Dr. Alfred Blalock (Alan Rickman) and lab technician Vivien Thomas (Mos Def) form an impressive team. As Blalock and Thomas invent a new field of medicine saving thousands of lives in the process social pressures threaten to undermine their collaboration and tear their friendship apart.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 026359246128

Something the Lord Made recounts the relationship between Dr. Alfred Blalock (Alan Rickman) and Vivian Thomas (Mos Def). It begins in 1930s Nashville when imperious cardiac surgeon Blalock hires Thomas, an African American carpenter, as his janitor. When the latter reveals a passion for medicine and facility with surgical instruments, Blalock promotes him to lab tech. Thomas isn't given a raise, works side jobs to make ends meet, and is expected to be grateful. Along the way, he follows Blalock from Vanderbilt to Johns Hopkins, where they save thousands of lives through their pioneering work, but will Thomas ever get any credit? The film provides a satisfying answer to that question. Joseph Sargent (A Lesson Before Dying) directs with subtlety and intelligence, while Rickman and Mos Def are in top form, often underplaying where most actors would do otherwise. Something the Lord Made won the 2004 Emmy for outstanding made-for-TV movie. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Tuesdays with Morrie

This warmhearted TV offering based on Mitch Albom's nonfiction bestseller of the same name dives right into the action, with Morrie (Jack Lemmon) collapsing within the first three minutes. Then it's cut to Mitch's hectic life as a sports columnist cum television host and long-term, often long-distance boyfriend. But this Mick Jackson-directed film slows considerably after the introductions as former student Mitch (Hank Azaria) learns his beloved professor is dying of ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). He reconnects with his mentor and begins learning from him all over again, this time about life. Oprah Winfrey produced this 88-minute film, and her renowned touchy-feely quality is prominent as Mitch learns to love both Morrie and his own girlfriend. Azaria, better known for somewhat goofy roles (The Birdcage, the dogwalker on TV's Mad About You) conveys an intelligent, if edgy dignity, and double Oscar winner Lemmon turns in his usual exquisite performance, giving even the most obvious moments touches of subtlety. --Kimberly Heinrichs

Based on a true-life story, TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE is a loving memoir to a man whose lessons on life have much to teach us about ourselves. Academy Award(R)-winner Jack Lemmon (Best Actor, 1974, SAVE THE TIGER) delivers an outstanding performance as Morrie Schwartz, the Brandeis University professor upon whom the best-selling book is based. Hank Azaria (GODZILLA) plays Mitch, an accomplished journalist so driven by his job, he has little time or energy left for anything else. One night, Mitch happens to catch Morrie's appearance on a national news program and learns his old professor is battling Lou Gehrig's disease. After the telecast, Mitch contacts Morrie, and what starts as a visit turns into a pilgrimage as Mitch opens his heart to the lessons Morrie has to teach him. As the bond grows between these two men, Mitch learns that professional commitments don't mean anything without the love of family and friends. Sure to inspire, TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE may just change your views on the meaning of life ... forever.

A Beautiful Mind (Widescreen Awards Edition)

The story of John Forbes Nash Jr., a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic who overcomes his disease and wins a Nobel Prize.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 17-JAN-2006
Media Type: DVD

A Beautiful Mind manages to twist enough pathos out of John Nash's incredible life story to redeem an at-times goofy portrayal of schizophrenia. Russell Crowe tackles the role with characteristic fervor, playing the Nobel prize-winning mathematician from his days at Princeton, where he developed a groundbreaking economic theory, to his meteoric rise to the cover of Forbes magazine and an MIT professorship, and on through to his eventual dismissal due to schizophrenic delusions. Of course, it is the delusions that fascinate director Ron Howard and, predictably, go astray. Nash's other world, populated as it is by a maniacal Department of Defense agent (Ed Harris), an imagined college roommate who seems straight out of Dead Poets Society, and an orphaned girl, is so fluid and scriptlike as to make the viewer wonder if schizophrenia is really as slick as depicted. Crowe's physical intensity drags us along as he works admirably to carry the film on his considerable shoulders. No doubt the story of Nash's amazing will to recover his life without the aid of medication is a worthy one, his eventual triumph heartening. Unfortunately, Howard's flashy style is unable to convey much of it. --Fionn Meade

Life as a House (New Line Platinum Series)

A respectable tearjerker, Life as a House is a welcome throwback to angst-ridden family dramas like Ordinary People and Terms of Endearment. It falls short of those modern classics, but you'll probably still need Kleenex if you appreciate Kevin Kline's underrated dramatic skills. As the title suggests, Kline's project is a broad metaphor for repairing damaged lives from the foundation up. Playing an architect with terminal cancer, he gives an Oscar^®-caliber performance, reaching out to his estranged, nihilistic son (future Star Wars star Hayden Christensen) and ex-wife (Kristin Scott-Thomas) as he wrecks and rebuilds the Malibu cliff-top home that contained his most painful memories. Director Irwin Winkler's flair with actors helps to minimize lapses in a script (by As Good As It Gets scribe Mark Andrus) that occasionally borders on maudlin. Overall, this is a fine reminder that Hollywood hasn't lost its soul to action and special effects. --Jeff Shannon

Girl, Interrupted

Based on Susanna Kaysen's acclaimed journal-memoir, Girl, Interrupted bears inevitable resemblance to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and pale comparison to that earlier classic is impossible to avoid. The mental institution settings of both films guarantee a certain degree of déjà vu and at least one Oscar winner (in this case, Angelina Jolie), since playing a loony is any actor's dream gig. Unfortunately, director James Mangold seems to have misplaced the depth and delicacy of his underrated debut, Heavy, despite a great deal of earnest effort by everyone involved. It's easy to see why Winona Ryder chose to star in (and executive-produce) this nearly worthy adaptation of Kaysen's book, since it's a strong vehicle for female casting and potent drama. Mangold certainly got the former; whether he succeeded with the latter is not so clear.

To be sure, Ryder conveys the confusion and chaos that signified Kaysen's life during nearly 18 months of voluntary institutionalization beginning in 1967. But the film seems too eager to embrace the cliché that the "crazies" of the Claymoore women's ward are saner than the war-torn world outside, and lack of narrative focus gives way to semipredictable character study. Susanna (Ryder) is labeled with "borderline personality disorder," a diagnosis as ambiguous as her own emotions, and while Jolie chews the scenery as the resident bad-girl sociopath, Ryder effectively conveys an odyssey from vulnerable fear to self-awareness and, finally, to healing. The ensemble cast is uniformly superb, making this drama well worthwhile, even as it treads familiar territory. If it ultimately lacks dramatic impact, Girl, Interrupted makes it painfully clear that the boundaries of dysfunction are hazy in a world where everyone's crazy once in a while. --Jeff Shannon

After a botched suicide attempt Susanna Kaysen (Winona Ryder) checks herself into a renowned psychiatric hospital where she meets a group of troubled young women including the charming sociopath Lisa (Angela Jolie) and soon realizes she ll have to fight for her sanity -- and her freedom.System Requirements:Starring: Whoopi Goldberg Angelina Jolie Jared Leto Vanessa Redgrave and Winona Ryder. Directed By: James Mangold. Running Time: 127 mins. This film is presented in "Widescreen" format. Copyright: 2000 Columbia Tri Star Home Video.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 043396047464

Nell

This film is an intelligent examination of an easygoing doctor (Liam Neeson at his teddy bear best) and his discovery of Nell (Oscar nominee Jodie Foster), a woman who was raised in the woods with no human contact except her speech-impaired mother. The movie covers a familiar "fish out of water" story unlocking Nell's soul (by deciphering her incomprehensible language) and then taking her into the modern world. What makes Nell special is the earnest work by Neeson, Natasha Richardson (as an uptight psychologist), and a rich, small array of supporting members (journeyman Nick Searcy as the town sheriff is marvelous). At its center is another extraordinary job by Foster, who also produced. Director Michael Apted (Thunderheart) brings his regular load of realism into the picture, set aglow by luscious camerawork (by Dante Spinotti) in the hills of North Carolina. Through lyrical speech and gesture, Foster makes you believe she's in another woman's body, akin to Jeff Bridges's work in Starman, a marvelous sight to behold that powers the movie. Written by William Nicholson (Shadowlands) and Mark Handley, based on Handley's play Idioglossia. --Doug Thomas

When doctor Jerry Lovell (Liam Neeson, Oscar - nominee for "Schindler's List") discovers a young woman living alone in the backwoods of North Carolina, he is intrigued by her erratic behavior and unique pattern of speech. Together with a psychologist (Natasha Richardson), Lovell determines to pierce Nell's private world and protect her from the courts - and a life of scientific study. In a race against time and a system bent on shattering her spirit, he finds that the woman whose way of life he has sought to protect, has transformed his own forever.

Wit

Deservedly hailed as one of the best films of 2001, Wit makes it clear why top-ranking talents seek refuge in the quality programming of HBO. Unhindered by box-office pressures, director Mike Nichols and Emma Thompson turn the most unglamorous topic--the physical and psychological ravages of cancer--into an exquisite contemplation of life, learning, and tenacious, richly expressed humanity. In adapting Margaret Edson's compassionate, Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Nichols and Thompson open up the one-room setting with a superb supporting cast. But their focus remains on the hospital experience of Vivian (Thompson), a fiercely demanding professor of English literature whose academic specialty--the metaphysical poetry of John Donne--is the armor she wears against the cruel indignities of her cancer treatment. While losing all that she held dear, she reassesses her life as an aloof intellectual, and Wit illuminates her bracingly eloquent and deeply moving struggle for dignity, meaning, and peace at life's ultimate crossroads. --Jeff Shannon

Based on the 1999 Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Margaret Edson WIT features the Academy Award winning actress Emma Thompson in a movie directed by Academy award winning director Mike Nichols. Vivian Bearing is an English professor with a biting wit that educates but also alienates her students. With her teaching and life both rigidly under control Vivian would never let down her defenses until the day comes when they are taken don for her. Diagnosed with a devastating illness Vivian agrees to undergo a series of procedures that are brutal extensive and experimental. For eight months her life must take an uncharted course. No longer a teacher but a subject for others to study. Vivian Bearing is about to discover a fine line between life and death that can only be walked with wit.Running Time: 99 min.System Requirements: Running Time 99 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG-13 UPC: 026359178122

Regarding Henry

Get shot in the head and become a better person. This 1991 Mike Nichols (Wolf) film stars Harrison Ford as a big-shot cold-hearted lawyer who gets a bullet in his brain during a holdup. The film de-emphasizes the traumas of recovery to focus on the title character's personality change after the fact. The canny Ford gets to work from his full, familiar palette of arrogance to boyishness, and even builds Henry from top to bottom after the wounded fellow awakens with no memory. But this is a slow and unremarkable film from Nichols, its sentimentality eclipsing all else, most of all profound insight. --Tom Keogh

Suddenly, Last Summer

A young woman is driven insane after witnessing her cousin's murder by cannibals. The neurosurgeon who tries to help her must also confront her aunt about her involvment in the death.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: UN
Release Date: 15-AUG-2000
Media Type: DVD

This black-and-white film adaptation of Tennessee Williams's Southern gothic play is perhaps more famous for the rumored off-screen shenanigans of its stars than for its over-the-top repressed sexuality (only Williams could pull off that paradox, and pull it off he does). Supposedly, stars Katharine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor battled for screen time; Hepburn warred very publicly with director Joseph Mankiewicz; and a postaccident Montgomery Clift relied heavily on painkillers and support from friend Taylor during the grueling shoot. Even this, however, cannot top the events of the film itself, revolving around the unseen playboy Sebastian and his mysterious death, which has something to do with young boys, a decadent European vacation, and Taylor in a provocative wet, white bathing suit. To give away the plot would spoil the fun, but suffice it to say that what Taylor saw was so horrible it drove her nuts, and Sebastian's mother (Hepburn) wants her to have a lobotomy in order to keep it from coming out; Clift is brought in to do the procedure. It's all a hoot and a holler, but as played by the two leading ladies (both of whom nabbed Oscar nominations), it's also compelling, chilling, and utterly gothic. Taylor gives a fierce performance, as the climaxing monologue that reveals Sebastian's "secret" rests entirely on her shoulders, and Hepburn plays brilliantly against type as Sebastian's manipulating, overbearing mother. Only Clift, saddled with a dreary character in charge of plot exposition, fails to deliver. Adapted by Gore Vidal. --Mark Englehart