The Doctor (1991)

Director:

Randa Haines

Writers (WGA):

Ed Rosenbaum (book)
Robert Caswell (screenplay)

Release Date:

24 July 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

He was a doctor who thought he knew it all... until he became a patient.

Plot:

Jack McKee is a doctor with it all: he's successful, he's rich, and he has no problems.... until he is diagnosed with throat cancer...

Plot Keywords:

Doctor Patient Relationship | Medical | Cancer | Hospital | Doctor As Patient

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

William Hurt	...	Dr. Jack MacKee
Christine Lahti	...	Anne MacKee
Elizabeth Perkins	...	June Ellis
Mandy Patinkin	...	Dr. Murray Kaplan
Adam Arkin	...	Dr. Eli Blumfield
Charlie Korsmo	...	Nicky MacKee
Wendy Crewson	...	Dr. Leslie Abbott
Bill Macy	...	Dr. Al Cade
J.E. Freeman	...	Ralph
William Marquez	...	Mr. Maris
Kyle Secor	...	Alan
Nicole Orth-Pallavicini	...	Sarah
Ping Wu	...	Jay-Jay
Tony Fields	...	Roger
Brian Markinson	...	Michael

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-10 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Silver Screen Partners IV

Trivia:

Co-stars 'Lahti, Christine' , Mandy Patinkin, and Adam Arkin all played doctors on "Chicago Hope" (1994).

Quotes:

June Ellis: I pray. I meditate. I eat chocolate. I dance.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ken Adam: Designing Bond (2000) (V)

A new look at an old issue.

The Doctor is a film that really touches you without being too weepy. It's the way doctors along the world think until... something happens and they find themselves on the other side. William Hurt is great as The Doctor. The desperation on his face when he finds out that from now on he'll be a cancer patient is unique and authenticque. But the film is not only for this doctor. It's about the community of doctors. It's about a closed profession that will hardly accept anyone else. Doctors have their own way of seeing things and that's obvious in the film. They are those who know what comes next and that's even more frightening for them. Dr. Blumfield is someone who's been banished from that special community for "daring" to see the side of a patient. The transformation of Dr. Jack McKee is a miracle that rises through his own sickness and his "patient-mate" is an angel in disguise to help him through. The whole story verifies what people say:"doctors are the worst patients ever" and that's because they experience the ultimate fear, considering that they have the knowledge. The film illustrates all of the concerns of The Doctor so beautifully and with such realism that's hard not to like it. I don't know about the general audience, but I do strongly believe that every Medical Doctor should see it.