Gross Anatomy (1989)

A smart first-year med student takes nothing seriously, except the pursuit of his Gross Anatomy (human dissection) lab partner. It's up to her and their teacher to find a way to convince ... See full summary »

Director:

Thom Eberhardt

Writers:

Mark Spragg (story), Howard Rosenman (story)

Stars:

Matthew Modine, Daphne Zuniga, Christine Lahti

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matthew Modine	...	Joe Slovak
Daphne Zuniga	...	Laurie Rorbach
Christine Lahti	...	Dr. Rachel Woodruff
Todd Field	...	David Schreiner
John Scott Clough	...	Miles Reed
Alice Carter	...	Kim McCauley
Robert Desiderio	...	Dr. Banks
Zakes Mokae	...	Dr. Banumbra
Clyde Kusatsu	...	Interviewing Professor
John Petlock	...	Interviewing Professor
J. Patrick McNamara	...	Interviewing Professor
Jan Munroe	...	Interviewing Professor
Kay E. Kuter	...	Lecturing Professor
Michael Flanagan	...	Lecturing Professor
Don Perry	...	Lecturing Professor

Storyline

A smart first-year med student takes nothing seriously, except the pursuit of his Gross Anatomy (human dissection) lab partner. It's up to her and their teacher to find a way to convince him to take his studies and life seriously.

---

Plot Keywords:

gas mask | medical test | medical terminology | stethoscope exam | basketball | 

---

Taglines:

It Takes Hard Work, Discipline, And Committment To Get Through Med School. But Joe's Never Done Anything By The Book.

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Certificate:

PG-13

Did You Know?

Trivia

The love scene between Matthew Modine and Daphine Zuniga was almost to the point of controversy between the studio and Director Thom Eberhardt. The studio wanted a more "steamier" love scene between the two and spent an entire Saturday afternoon which lasted four hours reshooting the sequence much to Eberhardt and Zuniga's misery. In editing, they tried endlessly to make the scene work cutting, trimming and massaging it to make fit the film tonewise. The studio previewed the film with this scene one time and Jeffery Katzenberg the then CEO of Disney, was not happy with the scene and agreed with Eberhardt to cut it out because it did not work.

---

Goofs

When Joe chases after his roommate the night he reveals he knows about the pep pills, the door to the dorm building closes fully after his roommate exits, then closes again just before Joe reaches the door.

---

Quotes

Joe Slovak: [confronting Dr. Woodruff after his roommate was asked to leave medical school] He's human. Not superhuman, just human. He did what he thought he had to do because he wanted to be a doctor more than anything else in the world and you ruined this for him.

---

Alternate Versions

There is another scene where the characters are all in a bar, and they are talking about their residencies. One version that was shown has a close up of the main characters at a table and one says, "I want to get a job, working in a quality hospital with quality patients." On Showtime's version there are camera scans to several other people in the bar. You hear the quote in the background, but do not hear who said the phrase.

---

Connections

Featured in At the Movies: The Fabulous Baker Boys/Breaking In/Crimes and Misdemeanors/Look Who's Talking (1989)

---

Soundtracks

Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis)
Written by Margo Timmins, Michael Timmins, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
Performed by Cowboy Junkies
Courtesy of RCA Records

User Reviews

Romantic comedy and character study nicely rolled into a drama

"Gross Anatomy" is a romantic comedy and med school student learns about life and himself character study, nicely rolled into a drama. I first saw it as a young teen in the early 90s, and it stuck with me as a dramatic romantic comedy but more so as a med school examination that really spoke to me.

Almost twenty years later, I am much more film literate, and while I still like it, I can see it's not as good as it could have been, or as I remember it. It's really not much of a character study, as Matthew Modine's Joe is your typical smart slacker who gets by on his looks, charm and natural intelligence - which is almost enough for med school. I wish they showed me more of his struggles in school and less of his romantic efforts to win over Laurie (Daphne Zuniga). The romantic comedy angle is so formulaic and predictable, that the comedy fell flat. On the other hand, the interpretation of med school seemed more realistic and not as enticing as most shows and movies make it out to be.

"Gross Anatomy" is probably more intriguing to a younger audience, with its immature characters and predictable romance. But these characters are appealing, especially Modine as we follow him on his journey through first year med school. I was not as emotionally invested as I first was years ago, but I still enjoyed this as a cute film.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 October 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Gross Anatomy

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles Harbor, San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$8,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,830,387, 22 October 1989

Gross USA:

$11,604,598

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$11,604,598

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hill/Rosenman, Sandollar Productions, Silver Screen Partners IV

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1