Plot
Writer/actor Spalding Gray is best known for his lengthy and insightful and sharply humorous onstage monologues, two of which, Swimming to Cambodia and Monster in a Box, have been filmed and released theatrically. Gray's Anatomy is also a filmed performance of a monologue he performed in 1993. Whereas the other two films had a focus on satire and humor, this one is a little more serious. Unlike the other two movies, it is less stagey and contains some interesting visuals and even a couple of interviews. The subject is Gray's bout with an eye ailment that caused him to go upon a world-wide journey in order to find a treatment alternative to the surgery he so feared and objected to on religious grounds. ~ Sandra Brennan, RoviReview
It may not seem like Spalding Gray would require a critically acclaimed director to film a spoken-word monologue, but Steven Soderbergh succeeds in making a visually interesting movie out of Gray's 80-minute account of his degenerative eye disorder. Gray's Anatomy begins promisingly with a series of documentary-style interviews with real-life survivors of eye trauma, then transitions into an engrossing tale of the humor and anguish involved in Gray's attempts to treat his macular pucker, which will eventually lead to blindness. With his New Yawker mannerisms and gesticulations, Gray already makes for attention-grabbing subject matter, but Soderbergh adds atmosphere to the piece with background colors and other visual representations of the film's themes. The tale is absurdly funny, populated by oddball characters trying to appeal to the notorious doctor-phobe, who was born a Christian Scientist. While Gray's shtick is inherently amusing, almost like stand-up comedy, he affectingly takes the viewer to far more serious places in his personal life, and finishes on an unresolved note that's sure to provoke thought. The film manages to be both entertaining and informative, and it should fulfill even those viewers not naturally drawn to Gray's neurotic ranting. ~ Derek Armstrong, RoviCast
Credit
Steven Soderbergh - Director, Susan Littenberg - Editor, Caroline Kaplan - Executive Producer, Kathleen Russo - Executive Producer, Jonathan Sehring - Executive Producer, Cliff Martinez - Songwriter, Adele Plauche - Production Designer, Elliot Davis - Cinematographer, John Hardy - Producer, Cynthia Wigginton - Set Designer, Paul Ledford - Sound/Sound Designer, Spalding Gray - Screenwriter, Renee Shafransky - Screenwriter| Gray Towers Mystery (1919 Film), Gray Matters (2006 Film) | |
| Grayeagle (1977 Film), Grayson Arms (2005 Film) |
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