Three victims of botched cosmetic surgery tell their stories in the one-hour made-for-cable documentary Plastic Disasters. Young professional Tony, the least serious case, finds himself in danger of permanent deformity after a faulty rhinoplasty and several increasingly risky corrective surgeries. The once-beautiful Lucille, meanwhile, finds herself looking far older than late middle age after a series of procedures, including two face-lifts and a nose job, leave her with folds of sagging skin all across her face and neck. Lucille also claims that she's unable to breath or swallow properly, though she is unable to obtain medical confirmation of these symptoms. Both patients' problems pale in comparison to those of Mona, a Florida retiree whose cut-rate liposuction indirectly leads to the loss of both legs during a lengthy near-death illness. Between interviews and footage chronicling its subjects' ongoing medical tribulations, Plastic Disasters provides statistical context and a brief history of cosmetic surgery. Spearheaded by producer/directors Kate Davis and David Heilbroner, the film premiered June 5, 2006, on HBO. Davis previously won an Emmy for Jockey, an earlier HBO project. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
Review
Although its cautionary hand-wringing makes for a reactionary corrective against the onslaught of TV shows hyping plastic surgery as a risk-free lifestyle choice, this bare-bones documentary proves compulsively watchable. All media outlets, from the editors of tabloid weeklies to the producers of reality television, know how obsessed Americans are with cosmetic procedures. The filmmakers behind Plastic Disasters are canny enough to go one step further, augmenting that fascination with the all-too-human hunger for vicarious misery. And, oh, how miserable these three subjects are. Learning to balance on prosthetic limbs and explaining how she goes to the bathroom after the amputation of her legs, retiree Mona has suffered the greatest physical loss. But it's Lucille, a body-dysmorphic former beauty, who seems most haunted. The unexpected side effects and emotional fallout of a botched face-lift have left her a screeching ghost of a woman -- a close cinematic cousin to those loons from Grey Gardens. Directors Kate Davis and David Heilbroner wisely give this poor woman ample screen time in which to illustrate the raging insecurities that can underlie the decision to go under the knife. The lowest-key story, but perhaps the most poignant, involves Tony, who inadvertently risks the loss of his nose in the seemingly simple quest to straighten and streamline it. By wisely including an everyday story alongside the extreme examples, the filmmakers do more to highlight the dangers of elective surgery than any close-up of gangrene could. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
Credit
Nancy Stanton Knox - Associate Producer, Kate Davis - Director, David Heilbroner - Director, Kate Davis - Editor, David Heilbroner - Editor, Gary Lionelli - Composer (Music Score), Kate Davis - Producer, David Heilbroner - Producer, David Heilbroner - Sound Recordist, Nancy Stanton Knox - Sound Recordist
