Coma (1978)

This is the last one that I saw on the 4 feature pack with Bad Moon and Body Snatchers.  However, I forgot the other feature and what it was about so I have to rewatch it or something.  Coma is the best one in the movie pack to me.

Director: Michael Crichton

Cast: Michael Douglas, Genevieve Bujold, Elizabeth Ashley, Rip Torn, Richard Widmark, Lois Chiles

Dr. Susan Wheeler (Genevieve Bujold) is a resident at the hospital and is in a strained relationship with a fellow resident Dr. Mark Bellows (Michael Douglas).  When her good friend Nancy (Lois Chiles) has to have a simple operation and comes back out in a coma, she starts investigating the charts to see what went wrong.  She starts tracking clues that leads to various suspicious cases of previously operated patients in OR 8 that came out in a coma.  As Mark starts trying to defend Susan and convince her to stop looking too deep, the male authorities such as Dr. Harris(Richard Widmark) prevent her to look further.  However, she continues seeking everywhere to find her answers and learns a bit too much; so much that it could cost her life.

Coma is definitely filled with mysterious turnouts.  Its not predictable and boring like the previous two.  This could be because it was directed and written by the brains behind Jurassic Park.  Plus, it was based on a novel (which I only learned about as I`m writing this from IMDB).  I`ll have to check it out.  The story is very well-written and carried out.  It leans into the sci-fi genre a bit, or maybe its a lot.  I’m really not an expert at where the lines of sci-fi are drawn, however it does have that sort of sci-fi feeling to it but more nearing the end.

I never heard of Genevive Bujold before but I knew right away that she was one of our own Montrealers from her little French-Canadian accent when she spoke.  She was quite enjoyable to watch.  Although, her character tackled a bit of the feminism and gender discrimination insinuation in the workplace and relationship, which sometimes was a bit annoying because it didn’t really pertain to the story or problem on hand.  Whether her boyfriend respected her or she felt that she was lesser at work or expecting her to cook didn’t mean that it was threatening or challenging her equality.  Aside from that little part in the beginning, she had a very intriguing character to follow and it was one that eventually would grow to want her to find out the whole deal relating to the comas.

The only actor I know a bit better is Michael Douglas.  After this one, I felt that he was taking on better roles when he was younger.  Even though, this probably wasn’t a huge production, it was quite solid.  His character was great on screen.  He did play a character which was a bit more predictable but he also did a great job in reacting to the situation at hand and interacting with Genevieve Bujold’s Susan.  Still, as much as I liked him a lot in Fatal Attraction, War of the Roses and Falling Down.  With the exception of Falling Down, this is probably my second favorite role that he’s done 🙂

A nice mystery sci-fi thriller that brings up a nice well thought out story that keeps the audience guessing throughout the investigation. It is a bit slow at parts, however, the main characters by Genevieve Bujold and Michael Douglas both do a fantastic job in their respective roles and help carry  the movie effectively. It may not be something to run out to see but you definitely won’t feel that it will be a waste of your time.  Surprisingly, it was quite a decent and enjoyable flick 🙂

What do you think of Michael Douglas and his career? Are there any movies that you like that he was involved in?