Film number 17 – Extreme Measures.
Beginning with a beautiful tracking shot moving through the cityscape of New York, down the endless stories of the building to a dark alley way, this sets the tone perfectly and builds the suspense. Two naked figures burst out of a door, sadly the mood that was set is destroyed in this moment and never comes back. this would have been a perfect scene to start of the film if the two naked figures were actually believable. As the film goes we are introduced to Hugh Grant’s bumbling hotshot doctor who is trying to care for a man who seems to be squirting liters of bright red food dye. I don’t know if it was the T.V. that I watched this on or if it was just a bad transfer but I have never seen such terrible blood effects in a major film, it really isn’t that hard to get right, hundreds of low budget horror movies can get it right there is no excuse.
We get introduced to all the different characters which basically takes any interest or mystique out of all the different characters. In a film like this which is not character driven there is no need to meet everyone at the beginning. It’s sloppy and makes this conspiracy story plod along aimlessly without building up any tension. We are given a vile ethics lesson when the survival of a heroin junkie vs. a member of the NYPD comes into question. Sarah Jessica Parker is moody with Hugh Grant because he decided to save the cop over the over guy, yes this is the kind of film that you are watching. You would think that working in a public hospital in a New York a city full of crime that Parker’s character would have more to do than let this annoy her.
The conspiracy against Grant begins it moves nicely with all the action beats that you expect to see. A big problem with the film that really takes you out of this is that Hugh Grant is in this bloody thing, had this been set in London I could easily buy it but the obvious fish out of water character is just annoying, it kind of ruins a lot of the scenes and takes you out of the thrilling moments. This culture clash is used only once in another little moral dilemma about America’s privatized health care system. This little conversation doesn’t last long but at least there is a bit more reason for grant to exist.
Gene Hackman does what we expect of him, Sarah Jessica Parker may as well not be there, Grants character is very witty and the dialogue feels very manufactured and snarky. The film descends into bizarre anarchy where Grant has to go underground and meet the sewer dwellers of New York, it is probably the best part of the movie, completely ruins the tone but also awesome, a great chase scene with the trains approaching also ensues. The big conspiracy keeps unraveling and it’s actually a pretty good idea, it’s sad that by this point we just don’t really care.
This could have been a great film if they had stayed as smart as the mystery; so many things just feel thrown in such as Grant’s English fish out of water. The conclusion is unsatisfying and lacks any impact. To the films credit it is watchable, this is hardly statement with any merit but it’s probably the best I can give. The conspiracy is a good one and is actually far more relevant in our present time than back in 1996, it’s not as bad as my comments make it out to be its just not good either.
4 and a half out of 10
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