Extreme Measures (1996)

Thriller about Guy Luthan (Hugh Grant), a British doctor working at a hospital in New York who starts making unwanted enquiries when the body of a man who died in his emergency room ... See full summary »

Director:

Michael Apted

Writers:

Michael Palmer (book), Tony Gilroy (screenplay)

Stars:

Hugh Grant, Gene Hackman, Sarah Jessica Parker

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hugh Grant	...	Dr. Guy Luthan
Gene Hackman	...	Dr. Lawrence Myrick
Sarah Jessica Parker	...	Jodie Trammel
David Morse	...	FBI Agent Frank Hare
Bill Nunn	...	Det. Bob Burke
John Toles-Bey	...	Bobby
Paul Guilfoyle	...	Dr. Jeffrey Manko
Debra Monk	...	Dr. Judith Gruszynski
Shaun Austin-Olsen	...	Claude Minkins
André De Shields	...	Teddy Dolson
J.K. Simmons	...	Dr. Mingus
Peter Appel	...	Det. Stone
Diana Zimmer	...	Helen
Nancy Beatty	...	Ruth Myrick
Gerry Becker	...	Dr. Gene Spitelli

Storyline

Thriller about Guy Luthan (Hugh Grant), a British doctor working at a hospital in New York who starts making unwanted enquiries when the body of a man who died in his emergency room disappears. The trail leads Luthan to the door of the eminent surgeon Dr Lawrence Myrick (Gene Hackman), but Luthan soon finds himself under in danger from people who want the hospital's secret to remain undiscovered.

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Plot Keywords:

hospital | emergency room | doctor | paraplegic | male rear nudity | 

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Taglines:

Not all surgery is intended to cure. Don't move a muscle.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, language, some nudity and graphic ER activity

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 September 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Extrem... mit allen Mitteln

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$38,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

ITL 1,408,410,000 (Italy) (27 December 1996)

Gross:

ITL 2,583,776,000 (Italy) (3 January 1997)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Castle Rock Entertainment, Simian Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the movie, security for the illegal medical experiments is provided by two supposed police officers named Hare and Burke. In reality, William Hare and William Burke were two men in the business of supplying human cadavers to medical schools in 1820s Edinburgh - until it was learned that the ones they hadn't stolen from graveyards, they had murdered themselves.

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Goofs

Arriving in The Room Dr. Luthan's lips clearly moves, but the words "...if someone's there listening" can be heard seconds later.

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Quotes

[Guy is facing an explusion hearing due to be wrongly accused of drugs charges]
Dr. Guy Luthan: Okay, look. It seems that you believe that I am somebody who had a great career, would just suddenly throw it all away. It seems more believable to you than somebody in this hospital is covering up the death of a patient of mine who's body just seemed to disappear into thin fucking air!

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Connections

Referenced in Strongbad_email.exe: Disc Six (2008)

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Soundtracks

"ON MY MIND"
Courtesy of MasterSource

User Reviews

standard entertainment

Entertaining, but a lot like "coma" with Michael Douglas. Nothing really original in the movie, apart from the fact that the main person doesn't happen to get into a relationship during the movie and all that sort of sideline nonesense. Funny to see Hugh Grant just cannot help playing an insecure character even if he is playing someone who succeeds in at a very difficult task by being very determined. Moral issues, goodies & baddies with a little nuance, violent climax, happy end.