Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Joe Mantegna | ... | Dr. John Novelli | |
Lynn Whitfield | ... | Dehlia Johnson | |
Melinda Dillon | ... | Betty Anderson | |
Paul Dooley | ... | Jim Anderson | |
Jay O. Sanders | ... | Dr. Jeffrey Forrest | |
Richard Beymer | ... | Dr. Ronald Frames | |
Robert Beltran | ... | Raoul Hernandez | |
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Christopher Birt | ... | Dr. Victor Davidson |
Dean Cameron | ... | Roger | |
Deborah Kara Unger | ... | Sue Payton | |
Paul Ben-Victor | ... | Trevor Jacobs | |
F. William Parker | ... | Brent Avery | |
Lucy Butler | ... | Rebecca Farinzi | |
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Gerald Castillo | ... | Ralph Ortiz |
John Considine | ... | Malcolm Parker |
Medical drama about a major hospital whose emergency room regularly faces an overload of patients. One of the doctors finds it necessary to adopt an unorthodox procedure to try to save a patient, and finds himself in trouble in consequence. Written by Anonymous
A shocking film - though maybe less to non-US audiences - which tells it like it is. Ever wondered what it was like to be a patient, or a doctor, in an overworked, under-staffed, under-funded, under-pressure inner-city public hospital? Well, now you can find out. And it sure ain't ER. Everything about this made-for-TV film screams "authentic" - which probably explains why it has largely disappeared from TV screens and doesn't get the 8+ ratings from the IMDB audience. But it deserves much, much better. The brilliant Joe Mategna plays a zombied-out doctor whose obnoxious couldn't-give-a-shit-manner conceals a man who has reached the end of his tether but is still trying to do the right thing - even in the face of no resources, conniving ass-covering bureaucrats and general public indifference. The ending, and Mantegna's final speech, doesn't quite cut it... but why accentuate the negatives? The setting, ambience and the characters - especially Mantegna - are spot on, and will be instantly recognisable to anyone who has spent much time around a public hospital or the doctors that work there. Compulsory viewing for all medical students who want to know what it's REALLY going to be like. Of course, once they've seen it they may prefer to quit medical school and become lawyers...