Susan Wheeler is a doctor at Boston Memorial Hospital when a close friend undergoing routine surgery suffers an extreme reaction to anaesthesia and lapses into a coma. Investigating the case, she discovers both an unusually high instance of coma amongst otherwise healthy patients, and extreme resistance to her actions from senior colleagues. Is she clutching at straws, or is there a deadly conspiracy at work ?
Robin Cook's bestselling novel Coma is the classic organ-harvesting cabal thriller, a staple of tabloid headlines ever since, but there's only one movie which deals with the subject, and the reason is because it's a near-perfect thriller that couldn't be bettered. It does what so few thrillers do; it gets the balance of characterisation and authenticity and action and suspense exactly right. The first half is an immersive, completely believable depiction of hospital life (Crichton was a medical student at Harvard) - the cast seem more like medics than actors - whilst the second is a delirious, nerve-wracking fantasy of assassins, murderous chases, futuristic cryogenics and political coverups, and the shift from one to the other is seamless. Bujold is convincingly out of her depth but determined to uncover the truth, and Douglas is the ultimate don't-rock-the-boat corporate climber, forced to make fundamental decisions about who to believe. Both are excellent, with strong support by Widmark, Ashley and Torn as the heavies, and nice bits by Chiles, Selleck, Doyle and a young Harris. There's also a great blaring unmelodic score by Jerry Goldsmith that twists the knife and very spooky photography by Victor J. Kemper and Gerald Hirschfeld. I find it disappointing that Crichton hasn't made more films, because although he's a great writer it's his directorial style that really scores - his grasp of visual grammar, suspense and eye for spaces in the frame. Most movies made by writers-turned-directors (e.g. Sleepless In Seattle) show little visual flair, whereas by contrast Crichton's movies are full of imaginative effects (see Westworld and Runaway particularly). Coma has a big set-piece chase sequence through the deserted hospital which is spectacularly creepy and unsettling, and the Jefferson Institute scenes are just breathtaking. With the possible exception of the work of David Cronenberg, this movie taps into everything that has ever unnerved you about doctors and hospitals, and is one of the finest conspiracy thrillers of the seventies.
Robin Cook's bestselling novel Coma is the classic organ-harvesting cabal thriller, a staple of tabloid headlines ever since, but there's only one movie which deals with the subject, and the reason is because it's a near-perfect thriller that couldn't be bettered. It does what so few thrillers do; it gets the balance of characterisation and authenticity and action and suspense exactly right. The first half is an immersive, completely believable depiction of hospital life (Crichton was a medical student at Harvard) - the cast seem more like medics than actors - whilst the second is a delirious, nerve-wracking fantasy of assassins, murderous chases, futuristic cryogenics and political coverups, and the shift from one to the other is seamless. Bujold is convincingly out of her depth but determined to uncover the truth, and Douglas is the ultimate don't-rock-the-boat corporate climber, forced to make fundamental decisions about who to believe. Both are excellent, with strong support by Widmark, Ashley and Torn as the heavies, and nice bits by Chiles, Selleck, Doyle and a young Harris. There's also a great blaring unmelodic score by Jerry Goldsmith that twists the knife and very spooky photography by Victor J. Kemper and Gerald Hirschfeld. I find it disappointing that Crichton hasn't made more films, because although he's a great writer it's his directorial style that really scores - his grasp of visual grammar, suspense and eye for spaces in the frame. Most movies made by writers-turned-directors (e.g. Sleepless In Seattle) show little visual flair, whereas by contrast Crichton's movies are full of imaginative effects (see Westworld and Runaway particularly). Coma has a big set-piece chase sequence through the deserted hospital which is spectacularly creepy and unsettling, and the Jefferson Institute scenes are just breathtaking. With the possible exception of the work of David Cronenberg, this movie taps into everything that has ever unnerved you about doctors and hospitals, and is one of the finest conspiracy thrillers of the seventies.