Review of Extreme Measures (1996) by Alison O — 30 Jun 2005

Best in Show: Gene Hackman.

One for the future: Sarah Jessica Parker.

Stand-out scene: Opening sequence.

Brainer or no-brainer: No brainer.

Stands up to one viewing or repeated?: One.

DVD commentary any good?: n/a.

DVD.

Hugh Grant - one note actor. Although the notes were almost doubled in About a Boy, Hugh Grant has ploughed a single furrow character-wise for most of his movie career and this is a film that definitely fits into this category. However, here he's also a fish out of water as a British doctor practicing in America. After a baffling opening sequence in which two naked men (sadly neither passing as eye candy) afflicted by an indistiguishable ailment flee from captivity we are thrust into the organised chaos that is emergency medicine, Hugh Grant's Doctor Guy Luthan exhibiting a cool head under pressure. We get the impression that Luthan is sweet on one of his support nurses, Jodie Trammel (Sarah Jessica Parker) when one of the aforementioned naked escapees arrives on the ward. When the patient's vitals (not those vitals) show strange anomalies, Grant becomes intrigued and resolves to investigate further. Unbeknown to him, his interest puts his own life in jeapordy as he uncovers a plot that defies all medical ethics. Gene Hackman, as Dr Lawrence Myrick, makes for a creepy baddie and Grant struggles to hold his own when he squares up with the Oscar winner. As thrillers go, this is a movie with a terrific premise but the final result is less than satisfying and you find yourself perplexed by some of the daft turns the story takes (such as when Luthan is temporarily paralysed). An opportunity missed.