Themes: Finding the Cure, Doctors and Patients, Work Ethics
Main Cast: Hugh Grant, Gene Hackman, Sarah Jessica Parker, David Morse, Bill Nunn
Release Year: 1996
Country: US
Run Time: 118 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Comic leading man Hugh Grant gets serious in this drama about a physician who uncovers a truly disturbing secret. Guy Luthan (Hugh Grant), a British doctor serving a residence in a hospital in New York City, is very puzzled by a patient brought to the emergency room one night. Naked, disoriented, and bearing a hospital bracelet and a fresh surgical scar, the mystery man is suffering from a baffling variety of symptoms, and though he dies not long after he's admitted, Luthan can't get the patient out of his mind. When he asks to see the records on the patient a few days later, he's told they no longer exist, and the more he digs, the more he's convinced that someone knows something they're not telling. Against the advice of his friend Jodie Trammel (Sarah Jessica Parker), a nurse and colleague, and the instructions of his superiors, Luthan keeps digging into this and other strange cases that have come through the hospital lately. Luthan's sleuthing eventually brings him to the door of Dr. Lawrence Myrick (Gene Hackman), a well-known surgeon who is doing research in experimental surgery that could allow patients with severe spinal injuries to walk again. While Myrick's work is done with the most noble of intentions, there turns out to be a sinister undercurrent to his research techniques. Actress Elizabeth Hurley, Grant's offscreen significant other, was co-producer for this picture, the first from their joint production company. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
John Toles-Bey - Bobby; Debra Monk - Dr. Judith Gruszynski; Peter Appel - Det. Stone; Elizabeth Hurley; Paul Guilfoyle - Dr. Jeffery Manko; Shaun Austin-Olsen - Claude Minkins; Andre DeSheilds - Teddy Dolsen; Diana Zimmer - Helen; J.K. Simmons - Dr. Mingus
Credit
Paul Denham Austerberry - Art Director, John Brace - Casting, Linda Lowy - Casting, Tina Gerussi - Casting, Chris Bingham - Co-producer, Chris Brigham - Co-producer, Susan Lyall - Costume Designer, David J.Webb - First Assistant Director, Tony Gittleson - First Assistant Director, Michael Apted - Director, Rick Shaine - Editor, Andrew Scheinman - Executive Producer, Danny Elfman - Composer (Music Score), Danny Elfman - Songwriter, Doug Kraner - Production Designer, John Bailey - Cinematographer, Elizabeth Hurley - Producer, Tom Nelson - Sound/Sound Designer, Bruce Carwardine - Sound/Sound Designer, Tony Gilroy - Screenwriter
Extreme Measures is a 1996thriller film based on Michael Palmer's 1991 novel of the same name, about the ethics of how far we are willing to go, and how much we are willing to sacrifice, in order to cure the world's ills.
Dr. Guy Luthan (Hugh Grant) is a New York emergency room doctor who one night comes across a strange patient: a homeless man who has a wristband from a hospital he's not familiar with, mentioning a drug he's never heard of, and with strange symptoms, including a wildly fluctuating heart rate. When the man dies, Guy attempts to follow up and find out more about the patient - only to find that the body and all records have disappeared, and he's told by his superiors to drop the case.
As he continues trying to find out what happened, his personal and professional life get suddenly sidetracked. His home is ransacked and cocaine is planted near his bedside. The police arrest him and he is convicted and in the process losing his job, the ability to ever practice medicine anywhere in the world and virtually all of his friends. In desperation, he manages to get the help of some homeless men who lead him to their underground home. His ER patient who died also had lived there. Through them he's led to an organization, led by Dr. Myrick (Gene Hackman), that performs spinal experiments on the homeless people, of which all have died thus far, in an attempt to find a cure for paralysis.
Myrick attempts to sway Luthan to join his team telling him that these people are heroes and losing one to save millions is worth the sacrifice. Dr. Luthan states they have not chosen to be heroes. Myrick is shot and accidentally killed by FBI Agent Hare (David Morse). Later, Mrs. Myrick hands the discs and documentation regarding the research to Luthan telling him "my husband was trying to do the right thing in the wrong way". He opens the package, views the materials and proceeds towards the neurology building where he is now working.
Quotes
Dr. Lawrence Myrick: "People die everyday. And for what? For nothing. What do we do? What do *you* do? You take care of the ones you think you can save. Good doctors do the correct thing. Great doctors have the guts to do the right thing. Your father had those guts."
Dr. Guy Luthan: "Those men upstairs, maybe there isn't much point to their lives. Maybe they are doing a great thing for the world. Maybe they are heroes. But they didn't choose to be. You chose for them. You didn't choose your wife or your granddaughter, you didn't ask for volunteers. You chose for them. And you can't do that, because you're a doctor, and you took an oath, and you're not god. So I don't care, I don't care if you can do what you say you can. I don't care if you find a cure for every disease on the planet! You tortured and murdered those men upstairs, and that makes you a disgrace to your profession! And I hope you go to jail for the rest of your life."
