Review of Safe (1995) by Jared H — 25 Apr 2009

Ok I'm giving 2 stars just for the subject matter. I was pretty excited to see that there was a movie about MCS (or call it EI or chemical sensitivity or whatever you will). But even for me, this was boooo-ring.

I really think we need to re-make this movie in MST3K form. But, more than its complete snore factor, the movie did NO justice to the actual horror of having MCS. The swervy-driving scene was good, but that should have just been the beginning.

More than half of MCS patients wind up homeless b/c they cannot enter their homes and cannot work. I could not even tolerate a tent for a while. This patient actually has a very mild case, seeing as how she can fly in a plane, wear normal clothes, visit with family, and even sit so close to the other MCS patients.

And she had a VERY easy time of it, despite her husband's initial assholishness. She happened upon this flier early on in her illness. There is SO much that is a common thread in the story of MCS patients, that is missing in this movie.

.. like the YEARS of unhelpful and insulting doctors, the massive needless meds they drug you up with, and the loss of closed-minded family and friends. It really does NO service to the illness, though it is obvious by the scenes that the filmmaker knows all about it.

There are many images that are frightening to the MCS patient that the average viewer would not even pick up on, and yet they are never explained. Further, this retreat place and its hokey kumbaya (sp?) crap make it appear to be a pseudo-illness.

How about more about the actual medical EI treatments? I have to give some slack since it is 15 years old (and why the hell did I still never hear about this until it was too late?), but it's time for a remake.

Aggravating at best.