Coma (2012)

After his success with the 1973 sci-fi thriller "Westworld" director Michael Crichton followed up with 1978's "Coma". In the earlier film he dazzled us with a fantastic futuristic vacation resort that turns against it's patrons. Here Crichton depicts the medical care system as a treacherous terrain where some patients may fall victim to odious conspiracy's.

Most people quite naturally experience an overwhelming fear of being defenseless and vulnerable while at the mercy of a hospital staff when they are admitted for surgery. Crichton explores this tendency of ours to suffer anxiety and apprehension at this prospect without being exploitative. He carefully crafts a believable scenario and we soon become caught in the same tangled web as the lead character Dr. Susan Wheeler, played marvelously by Genevieve Bujold. Wheeler is a bright, strong willed, liberated woman who supports herself and can withstand a challenge from her current boyfriend Dr. Mark Bellows, well played by Michael Douglas. Crichton received both critical praise and public criticism for the movie's portrayal of such an emancipated heroine, a role which has fortunately become more standard in the years that have followed.

When Wheeler's friend Mary is admitted to the hospital for an abortion Mary expresses her fears to Wheeler who assures her it is a routine operation and that she shouldn't feel a need to worry. Something does go wrong with the operation however and Mary falls into a coma, shortly afterward she dies. This event doesn't seem possible to Wheeler and out of curiousity she reviews Mary's medical records and notices inconsistencies and inquires about them. This sequence begins what will become a complicated and formidable investigation that she proves completely capable of following through on. Her defiance is so threatening that soon a predator is stalking her intending on silencing her permanently and she handles this situation resolutely, fighting against her fears and facing the enemy.

Crichton presents coherent, edifying scenes of doctors, interns and nurses going about their daily duties that adds authenticity to the film. The anesthesia explanation is well written and necessary for our understanding of the plot. The Jefferson Institute complex is the film's great set piece. It stands isolated in a lush green valley looking sterile and impersonal, matching the cold treatment that Wheeler has been receiving from her male superiors who she has been reporting her findings to. The building also adds a striking Gothic horror feel to the movie; the sight of bodies suspended by wires from the ceiling is eerie, chilling and unforgettable.

"Coma" also features splendid supporting peformances by many recognizable faces. Tom Selleck has a brief bit as a patient who is victimized; Ed Harris appears as a Pathology resident with a headful of hair!; Rip Torn plays Dr. George, the hospital's Chief of Anesthesiology, who Wheeler suspects; Elizabeth Ashley is the autocratic and apparently soulless head of Jefferson Institute. But it's Richard Widmark who makes the strongest impression as the hospital's administrator, Dr. Harris. His final self-righteous discourse to Bujold, as she slowly succumbs to poisoning, is memorable he brazenly explains away ethics as if they were a mere contrivance. It's at this point you realize that throughout the film he has been dispensing his diabolical medical elitism with all the ease and grace of a seasoned diplomat.

Mysteriously, Crichton chooses to film a climax that has Wheeler falling into an all too familiar 'damsel in distress' situation where she needs to be rescued by a man. But the sight of her lying helpless on the operating table makes your heart pump with fear and anxiety, creating another of the film's most effective moments. Not one of us wants to be this completely helpless and vulnerable!

"Coma" remains a top-notch medical thriller today despite it's lack of special effects that today's sophisticated audiences demand from this genre. Still, it remains largely unknown, enjoying a bit of cult movie status among the moviegoers who came of age in the 70's.

One final note: People often mistakenly credit Crichton for writing the book upon which the film "Coma" is based. Actually Robin Cook is the book's author although I can see why people would easily make this incorrect distinction due to some similarities between them. They each have a medical degree and earlier in his career Crichton penned a handful of novels that had a medical setting and wrote the non-fiction book "Five Patients" as well.

I discovered by chance that this 1978 thriller with Michael Douglas was written and directed by Michael Crichton, who was himself a qualified medical doctor, but this film would have one believe that he had no love lost for his original profession (as would "The Andromeda Strain".)

Coma despite being an "old" movie by many standards, is surprisingly fascinating on DVD. Crichton gets good performances from the whole cast, with Genevieve Bujold, in particular, reminding us of what a fine actress she can be. As a doctor suspicious of certain goings-on in her hospital but disbelieved by everyone around her, she shows courage and determination (without ever losing her femininity) which is welcome in a female lead. She finds herself forced to question her own sense of perspective, even her sanity, as she struggles to uncover the mystery of comatose patients that surround her.

There's one sizeable twist towards the latter half of the movie, but you generally know what's going to happen. The beauty of this movie is in the overall execution -it's VERY well done.

Recommended rental. Especially for the medically inclined.

Buy Coma (2012) Now

Writer/director Michael Crichton's second film was an adaption of Robin Cook's bestselling novel. Michael Douglas plays the role of the heroine while Geneviene Bujold has the hero's role in this role reversal thriller. This was made prior to Douglas becoming a break out star. There are a number of fine performances including a great turn by the always interesting Rip Torn.

The extras are slim; we get the trailer and both the widescreen and standard versions of the movie. No director's commentary or observations from the cast; no "making of" documentary (or promo fluff piece for that matter). Which is a pity as this fine thriller does deserve better but then that was SOP when DVD's started coming out.

You can't argue with the price nor with Crichton's direction. He really never got any better than this as a director (although there are a couple of films like The Great Train Robbery that hold up to this and Westworld). Crichton isn't a great film director (he's a better writer) but he gets the job done. Coma will keep you guessing.

Read Best Reviews of Coma (2012) Here

For a period in the 1970s, it looked as if Michael Crichton was on his way to becoming a film director instead of the author of popular science-thrillers that he is principally known as today. He had a hit with the robot science-fiction meets the Western flick with "Westworld" in 1973, and he followed it up with this medical thriller in 1978. Based on a book by another M.D.-turned-novelist, Robin Cook, "Coma" is an entertaining suspenser with some good performances and nice pacing, helped immensely by Crichton's expertise on the medical profession and the politics of working in a hospital.

Unfortunately, "Coma" is one of those films that's good enough to make you wish it could have been even better. You feel satisfied with the viewing experience, but feel that the movie could have pushed itself even farther and turned from a good film into a very good film. The potential is certainly there, with a fun conspiracy plotline (Why are supposedly healthy people at a Boston hospital falling into irreversible comas? What is the purpose of the freaky, mysterious Jefferson Institute to where the coma patients are being shipped?), its level of paranoia (no one believes heroine Genevieve Bujold's suspicions -or perhaps everyone around her is in on it), and Crichton's perfectly realistic representation of medical jargon and the workings of a busy hospital (a prelude to his television creation, E.R.). Many of the performances are excellent as well, especially Michael Douglas as Bujold's ambitious doctor boyfriend, Richard Widmark as the chief surgeon, and Elizabeth Ashley as the nearly robotic and incredibly frightening head of the Jefferson Institute. Rip Torn also pops in for a brief but noticeable role as the gruff head of anesthesia. (And hey, look, it's Tom Selleck in a brief appearance an an unfortunate patient!) The score by Jerry Goldsmith is also deliciously suspenseful and takes an unusual approach (no music at all for the first forty-five minutes, then almost non-stop growing fear through pounding pianos and creepy strings).

But "Coma" is often too cold, too distant, and Bujold's performance is too one-note and disinterested to make the film work as well as it could. Crichton also handles many of the scenes in a flat, pedestrian manner; he has trouble dealing with the character-driven scenes, and really needs actors like Michael Douglas and Rip Torn to carry these sequences. Except for the scenes at the Jefferson Institute and its ghastly "hanging room" (the film's best set-piece), the whole movie has a bland, flat look that makes it feel as if it were shot for television. And the final twist in the story won't surprise anybody.

But I still recommend "Coma" as an entertaining thriller. Even if you can see the surprise revelation coming long before the heroine does, the actual finale is a squirmy, suspenseful bit that plays off everyone's hidden fear of hospitals in general and surgery specifically. And Crichton's attention to realism in his setting puts the film far ahead of most of the overactive, loud and obnoxious thrillers released today. People in the medical profession in particular will enjoy the movie, but even if you can't tell a stethoscope from syringe, you'll find yourself enjoyably drawn into the mystery of "Coma." (Don't expect much in the way of extras on this DVD -they're really aren't any. Commentary from Crichton would have been extremely interesting, but alas, nothing.)

Want Coma (2012) Discount?

A great movie from start to finish. Young Genevieve Bujold and Michael Douglas give outstanding performances. Everyone in the movie is great. An excellent "conspiracy theory" come true movie. A good add for your DVD library.

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