Initially seen through the perspective of a veteran in need of a triple Bipass and a young doctor doing his internship, this is actually a nice and honest gritty little melodrama about the extent to which red tape can be used to save money (rather than lives) in the public health sector.
The basic setup is that due to continual budget cuts and a militant Managing director, the surgeons of a veterans hospital are driven to all sorts of wrangling scheming and out and out theft in order to provide an adequate standard of care for their ex-servicemen patients.
You have to admire the antics of the group of vigilante doctors led by the slightly off kilter and charasmatic Doctor Sturgess attempt to keep the minds and bodies of their patients together, even as you raise your eyebrows and mumble "shyeah right" to yourself on others.
This is actually a good solid setup for some neat scams and switches, as these patients are being treated for less expensive day surgery like prostate and bowel problems come out with (additional) being treated for a pulmonary Aneurism, Arythmia and other expensive and time consuming operations that they where refused 'clearance' for.
In order to facilitate this kits and surgical equipment has to be stolen out of storage and from the well funded university research labs, which results in the hilarious line from one dour faced researcher, "I have a snow monkey waiting three months for a bowel transfer who needed that pacemaker".
However we begin our experience with the ill met hospital as Travis has his request for surgery placed into a bohemoth mass of similar request forms, he meets 'Shooter' Polanski who has just been Article 99'd (hey thats the title!) meaning that while he has been found to be eligable for treatement of his post traumatic stress syndrome, the board has found that this is not related to his time serving his cournty so he has been turned out (or something to that effect).
So doing what any 'traumatised by the fact that X files now sucks so much (I suppose it couldent possibly have anything to do with being shot ad infinitum)' ex vet would do, he hops in his truck, puts on some patriotic music and drives straight into the reception of the hospital to raise a rucus before taking his trusty..... well I dont know what kind of gun that was, a fully automatic, an Ouzi, either way not something you want to see in the hands of a wild eyed nutcase.
Before preceeding upstairs to say hi to the doctors.
Now Sturgess and his crew (Sid, Rudy, Robin and Keifer, who they sort of grabbed on the way) have exitedly grabbed up some sedatives, oxygen and one of those crash kit defribulators and raced to the scene. And seriously these guys couldent be more slap happy about the situation.
Shooter has ended up in the Psyche ward (appropiate) and is in the middle of a confrontation with new head of psych Dr Walton, which basically consists of her saying "dont be silly, put the nasty gun down" when Sturgess shows up with a far better idea, namely: Take your pea-shooter and point it at the big-wigs, (sounds good in my books).
After shutting up the blustering Walton (see quotes) and under the guise of calling a TV station, Sturgess and team (who where hiding in the back)give him a quick jolt, before starting his heart again and sedating him, while long time hanger on Luthor disposes of the gun so he wont be charged with armed assualt (no I dont know how they explain away all the bullet holes) and then race downstairs to help the people who where hit by the car, including Travis who is conveniently having a heart attack.
In the meantime Luthor is downstairs on what looks like a carphone running off his wheelchair batteries has called in about four television stations to observe the rucus and it is here that Sturgess brings the problem to the public about why shooter felt compelled to go on his little free for all.
Thus far the vigilante crew had been pretty well protected by the lack of evidence that pointed directly to them, however the Board decides that the 'problem' doctors will have to be removed once and for all as they are creating some pretty nasty publicity.
After getting Shooter admitted to the Phsych ward (it would appear that the authorities decided not to question the new ventilation holes through three of their wards), Keifer (he's always Keifer to me except for when he's David but thats another story) is pretty much disregarded by Sturgess and his crew, but as they explain, for a pretty good reason.
Every year the Hospital gets inundated with doctors going through their internship and (not really that surprisingly) every year they fast track that section of their course and head out to the nearest boutique style surgery they can find.
So to their way of thinking, whats the use of investing professionally or emotionally, however they do show him the way of things around the place.
Begining with his first assigned patient Mr Abrahms, a long term patient or what they refer to as Gomar, he is trucked from ward to ward for various tests and proceedures, simply because he wont live for long outside the institute and he has no were to go (ghee I wonder if he and Keifer will form some kind of emotional bond teaching him the true value of being a health care professional).
Actually one of the main arguments that occur between Sturgess and Keifer is that for all the risks intailled Sturgess is determined that Travis get his surgery done, while no operations are ever considered for Abrahms, but as he points out what Travis gains is 20 years, whereas all they can do is keep Abrahms comfortable, which is a hard truth but a real one.
As you can imagine this stop gap situation cannot last forever and the Directors efforts to catch the culprits escalate as do the desperation and actions of the Doctors, until finally, following Sturgess' coerced volentary suspension, it results in a standoff and a lock in.
But, Does it Work?
Yup, I can pretty much say with all certainty that it does.
Everyones performances are spot on and for a drama particularly a medical drama the lack of caricatures was really refreshing. Even the roles of love interest and goofy member of the team come accross as characters in their own right, rather than filler.
And, as strange as this may seem it was not a depressing movie, the deficient conditions in which the patients are treated are never glossed over, once your inside the building itself its dark all the time, the corridors and the ward rooms, the only really bright areas are outside and the OR's.
However, the doctors are so frantic and busy, they dont have time to be dragged down by all thats against them their too busy doing something about it.
Their midnight raids on the cardiac unit, snuck in heart surgery during a bowel operation and not to mention sneaking up on the gun man armed with nothing but a crash cart and some O2 are all done with a naughty eager grin, like a bunch of boarding school kids raiding the kitchen after lights out.
Now I could spend a whole reveiw raving about how good Liotta is in this role, but we'll just leave it by saying that he puts accross enough charisma that you can tell why people would break the rules to follow him and help him out. And he does do everything with enough familiarity that you beleive Sturgess has been fighting the good fight for 17 years.
I quite liked his relationship with Dr Walton as well, they definitly had some chemistry going on and it warmed me to the sub-cockles of my heart to see a couple that where actually in the same age bracket. The details of their relationship are shown nicely especially during the initial stages (nothing like finding beds for her patients when she's forced to turf them out) and also after Sturgess gets suspended and they've been going out for a while.
However, I think that Keifer's continual persuit of Dr Robin (that chick from Caroline in the City) didnt feel genuine and it was also superfluous. The change in his perception of the hospital and it patients was nicely dealt with by Mr Abrahm and his death (thats not really a spoiler you know its goin to happen as soon as you see him). Additionally the hospital staffs acceptance of him was best shown with Nurse White. A cup of coffee from that woman is the equivalent of a red carpet and three day long "welcome to the office" by anyone else.
Of the Black Hats, Bitchy Nurse Sturdyvant and Dr Dreyfuss the Director, where the main two villains and where pretty one dimensional, although they did generate some good one liners.
Now, it may have been reasonable to consider that starting off in such an OTT way (an armed crazy being subdued via electric shock)that inserting a siege like situation as the climax would fit in but I have to say not-really.
There are also other little running jokes that pop up, in order to stop some patients from being released without being treated they have to find empty beds to leave them in until they figure out a way of having them re-admitted, when a guy called Ponzini dies they use his bed for about three other people, later on when they are going through the morgue looking for some hidden equipement they come accross his body and their all like "Ponzini" like an old friend..... okay it was funnier at the time.
All of the character developement and exposition that your fed in the middle does a good job of showing not only how Shooter managed to work himself into a such a state that he felt he had to do something in order to get some notice, but also why the Doctors would feel enough compassion for someone who, lets face it is trying to kill them, to not only stop the situation themselves but cover for the guy so he didnt go to jail.
The finale involving a 12 hour rush on all operations, 50 armed to the teeth wheel chair bound vets chaining themselves to the entry ways, is great, but somehow it feels a bit out of place with the nice dose of reality the rest of the movie dished out.
The Federal Marshals rock up (as the VA Hospital is federal territory) and the Federal Inspector General seeing the squalor in which the patients where being treated tells the Director to get ready for a congressional hearing, with the immortal words "Shit always does float to the top".
However, the Article 99 just escapes from a 'happy ending' and shows instead Sturgess and Kiefer walking (late) into a staff meeting where the new Director is up the front rambling on about all the new rules and regs, basically repeating the old directors litany of stupidity word for word, showing of course that the fight goes on.
Snakes?
No, sadly no snakes or lizards.
Treats?
This gets two treats one for the actual story (always a softy for a worthy cause).....
