EXTREME MEASURES (1996)
a review by chris webb
Hugh Grant (Dr. Guy Luthan), Gene Hackman (Dr. Lawrence Myrick) Sarah Jessica Parker (Jodie Trammel). Directed by Michael Apted
"I took the liberty of ordering you some baklava," says a shaky Hugh Grant to Sarah Jessica Parker as they meet in a diner. If that isn't bad enough, Grant will go on to say baklava one more time in that *scene*. I can imagine that Grant would be pleased to know that his affinity for all things Greek is encompassed in this movie, since Extreme Measures is what the Greeks created best: a tragedy. With the A-list leading men trioed with Parker, the movie seems to get off on a respectable footing. However, as Grant does his bumbling Brit, the movie trips over itself. In an inner-city emergency room, Grant's British accent and calm demeanor don't lend any credibility to what we see on screen. Still, its probably the writing more than his acting, as Grant yells at convulsing semi-conscious patients to calm down. Suddenly, one unfortunate night, homeless men wander into the ER, naked and sick. They convulse, vomit, and bleed, with no medical explanation, and suddenly stabilize, but ultimately die. Who could be behind such diabolical deeds? Movies new bad cronie, Gene Hackman, of course. Hackman is working on flushing his career down the toilet, since he seemingly has picked his latest roles with a dart board. You see, Hackman is a rogue doctor who uses the homeless to do vertibrae transplants in order to allow those who have been paralyzed to regain use of their bodies. With such high aspirations, we might see a debate between human experimentation and be given compelling arguments for both. However, Michael Apted (documentarian for the 7-14-21-28-35-Up series and director of Nell) treads into thriller territory. This movie is not a bit scary, its a joke. Now, what has happened to Hackman's career? He was sympathetic and tormented in The Conversation and Mississippi Burning, and has fallen into the world of evil with Crimson Tide (great performance), The Chamber (tired performance), Absolute Power (lifeless performance), and now this. He needs to read the scripts before choosing parts. Nonetheless, he adds some credibility to this faltering picture. But, he's becoming boring and repetetive with his holier-than-thou bad guys. Parker is the real doozy in this film. Her career started brightly as Annie, and since then she has gone on to other roles such as Matthew Broderick's wife. Yes, folks, she's terrible. Is it her or her lines? In Extreme Measures its tough to see. She plays a two-dimensional supporting part with her two-dimensional acting, and sometimes it feels like we're transported into the black hole of the fourth dimension. She's on a personal crusade in Hackman's underground hosptial. She wants the experimentation on humans to maybe save her brother, who was paralyzed in an accident. Let's add to the sympathy: she was driving the car. Let's wander into afterschool special land: She was drunk. You see, kids, there's a message in this film being spelled out for you. She almost kills Grant by letting him into the hands of Hackman, and then comes to his aid. For Grant it would have been be a mercy killing. In fact, someone should have pulled the plug on this film. This movie is so bad, so contrived, that it was fun to make jokes while watching. However, if you want to rent a good film, bypass this. Don't believe the hype on the case, you will be disappointed. Extreme Measures took the liberty of placing itself right on our platters, and we're left there to stare, wondering what exactly it is.
Don't bother.
My grade: D-
---chris webb--- -copyright 1997-
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