Gray's Anatomy (1996)

After doctors inform him that an eye affliction will require risky surgery, monologist Spadling Gray recounts his various pursuits for alternative medicine to avoid the doctor's scalpel.

Director:

Steven Soderbergh

Writers:

Spalding Gray (monologue), Renée Shafransky (monologue),

Stars:

Spalding Gray, Mike McLaughlin, Melissa Robertson

Cast

Cast overview:
Spalding Gray	...	Himself
Mike McLaughlin	...	Himself
Melissa Robertson	...	Herself
Alvin Henry	...	Himself
Alyne Hargroder	...	Herself
Buddy Carr	...	Himself
Gerry Urso	...	Herself
Chris Simms	...	Himself
Tommy Staub	...	Himself
Kirk A. Patrick Jr.	...	Himself

Storyline

Spalding Gray has an eye condition that can be surgically corrected. He decides to seek alternate treatment and embarks on a journey that will take him to Christian Science, Native American sweat lodges and psychic surgeons, among others.

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Plot Keywords:

eye | one man show | interview | alternative medicine | performance | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 March 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Anatomia de Gray

Filming Locations:

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$350,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Independent Film Channel (IFC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Broadway performance of "Gray's Anatomy" by Spalding Gray opened at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre on November 28, 1993, ran for 13 performances and closed on January 3, 1994. A repeat performance reopened at the Vivian Beaumont Theater on June 5, 1994, ran for 8 performances and closed on June 27, 1994.

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Quotes

Spalding Gray: I looked across the park, and in the distance I saw leaves blowing in the wind, bunch of children running, a red ball rolling, a flock of starlings taking off. I covered my right eye:
[suiting hand actions to words]
Spalding Gray: no leaves. Blur of children, blotch of red, no birds. Covered my left: ah! Ecstacy. Cover my right: despair. Ecstacy. Despair. And I realized at that moment that I was now living the perfect yin and yang existence.

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Crazy Credits

After the end credits there's a brief additional scene featuring an ophthalmologist.

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Connections

References Un Chien Andalou (1929)

User Reviews

I Love a Good Storyteller

There is not much that beats a well told tale. If it is told through television or film, a good storyteller is worth more than a billion dollars of special effects. This little film tickles and delights and causes us to ponder the wonders of medicine and the human psyche.

Spalding Gray has a "photographic memory" which allows him to describe things in fascinating detail. He also has a rather neurotic take on the world, just slightly askew from the norm...which allows us to enjoy a more entertaining vantage point. Above all, Mr. Gray loves to spin a tale. He delights in sharing stories and tying them all together in one general rant.

This particular one-man-rant appealed to me even more than his others. Perhaps I liked it because I sought alternatives cures to my own illness and know all the crazies out there. Perhaps I liked it because I was raised by an optometrist and worked in his office a few summers...just enough to appreciate his eye condition (macular pucker) and his fear. Whatever the reason, I really enjoyed this and want to share it with all my friends now.