Critical Condition (1987)

User Rating:

4.4/10   

Director:

Michael Apted

Writers:

Denis Hamill (story) &
John Hamill (story) ...

Release Date:

16 January 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Guess who's playing doctor?

Plot:

A man framed in a jewel smuggling tries for an insanity plea and is sent to a hospital for review where he is confused for another doctor and takes over the hospital when a major storm hits.

Plot Keywords:

Hospital | Disaster | Mistaken Identity | World Trade Center New York City | New York City

Cast

Richard Pryor	...	Eddie Lenahan / Dr. Kevin Slattery
Rachel Ticotin	...	Rachel Atwood
Rubén Blades	...	Louis
Maria Cardinale
Joe Mantegna	...	Arthur Chambers
Bob Dishy	...	Dr. Foster
Sylvia Miles	...	Nurse Maggie Lesser
Joe Dallesandro	...	Stucky
Randall 'Tex' Cobb	...	Box
Bob Saget	...	Dr. Joffe
Joseph Ragno	...	Palazzi
Jon Polito	...	Kline
Garrett Morris	...	Helicopter Junkie
Brian Tarantina	...	Tommy Pinto
Jude Ciccolella	...	Jack Kinney

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Australia:M | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

High Point Regional Hospital - 601 N. Elm Street, High Point, North Carolina, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Movie Connections:

References Geheimcode: Wildgänse (1984)

Soundtrack:

THE RIDE OF THE VALKYRIES

Long on potential, short on results

Basically a vehicle for Pryor, this is a rough and somewhat ugly movie, disfigured in part by a surfeit of swearing in a film that doesn't need it and a bunch of vaguely unsympathetic characters. The central plot – a framed man who has claimed insanity has to pretend to be a doctor during a blackout at a hospital – is intriguing if somewhat convoluted. As a twist on the fish-out-of-water story, it has much potential, in the same way that Woody Allen's "Hollywood Ending" has much potential in its premise of a suddenly-blind director having to go through the entire shoot without letting anyone know he is blind. Just as with that movie, "Critical Condition" mainly fails to capitalize on its potential, and the film is oddly slow-moving and genuine laughs are hard to come by.

Pryor does well to work with the underdeveloped material, and Rachel Ticotin adds solid support in the role of the hospital administrator. There is a nice addition of a subplot involving crooks roaming the hospital to add to the tension of the staff and patients trying to survive the power outage, and the film as a whole is at least watchable, but not very memorable. It does not have widespread appeal as a comedy/thriller and should probably be best recommended for Pryor fans only.