The Doctor (1991)

When a self-centered doctor is diagnosed with cancer, he becomes better able to empathize with his patients and appreciate a life outside his career.

Director:

Randa Haines

Writers:

Ed Rosenbaum (book) (as Ed Rosenbaum M.D.), Robert Caswell (screenplay)

Stars:

William Hurt, Christine Lahti, Elizabeth Perkins

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William Hurt	...	Jack
Christine Lahti	...	Anne
Elizabeth Perkins	...	June
Mandy Patinkin	...	Murray
Adam Arkin	...	Eli
Charlie Korsmo	...	Nicky
Wendy Crewson	...	Leslie Abbott
Bill Macy	...	Al Cade
J.E. Freeman	...	Ralph
William Marquez	...	Mr. Maris
Kyle Secor	...	Alan
Nicole Orth-Pallavicini	...	Sarah
Ping Wu	...	Jay-Jay
Tony Fields	...	Roger
Brian Markinson	...	Michael

Storyline

Jack McKee is a doctor with it all: he's successful, he's rich, extremely self centred and he has no problems.... until he is diagnosed with throat cancer. Now that he has seen medicine, hospitals, and doctors from a patient's perspective, he realises that there is more to being a doctor than surgery and prescriptions, and more to life than serving only his own needs.

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Plot Keywords:

doctor | surgery | hospital | cancer | blood | 

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Taglines:

He was a doctor who thought he knew it all... until he became a patient.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 August 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Doctor

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$165,392, 28 July 1991

Gross USA:

$38,120,905

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$38,120,905

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Silver Screen Partners IV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ed Rosenbaum: as Himself.

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Goofs

In a scene supposedly set on the roof of a San Francisco office building, between William Hurt and Elizabeth Perkins, well=known Los Angeles high-rises can be seen in the background.

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Quotes

Dr. Jack MacKee: If I *ever* hear you describe a patient as "terminal" again, that's how you'll describe your career!

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Connections

References Superman (1978)

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Soundtracks

Why Don't We Get Drunk and Screw
Written and Performed by Jimmy Buffett
Courtesy of MCA Records

User Reviews

A new look at an old issue.

The Doctor is a film that really touches you without being too weepy. It's the way doctors along the world think until... something happens and they find themselves on the other side. William Hurt is great as The Doctor. The desperation on his face when he finds out that from now on he'll be a cancer patient is unique and authenticque. But the film is not only for this doctor. It's about the community of doctors. It's about a closed profession that will hardly accept anyone else. Doctors have their own way of seeing things and that's obvious in the film. They are those who know what comes next and that's even more frightening for them. Dr. Blumfield is someone who's been banished from that special community for "daring" to see the side of a patient. The transformation of Dr. Jack McKee is a miracle that rises through his own sickness and his "patient-mate" is an angel in disguise to help him through. The whole story verifies what people say:"doctors are the worst patients ever" and that's because they experience the ultimate fear, considering that they have the knowledge. The film illustrates all of the concerns of The Doctor so beautifully and with such realism that's hard not to like it. I don't know about the general audience, but I do strongly believe that every Medical Doctor should see it.