Werner Ernst is a young hospital resident who becomes embroiled in a legal battle between two half-sisters who are fighting over the care of their comatose father. But are they really fighting over their father's care, or over his $10 million estate? Meanwhile, Werner must contend with his nutty supervisor, who insists that he only care for patients with full insurance. Can Werner sidestep the hospital's legal team and do what's best for the patient?
Acting
Albert Brooks going FULL unhinged as the insurance-obsessed Dr. Butz
Direction
Lumet treating hospital corridors like a pressure cooker
Writing
Steven Schwartzman's scalpel-sharp dialogue about dying for profit
Director
Sidney Lumet
James Spader
Dr. Werner Ernst
Kyra Sedgwick
Felicia E. Potter
Helen Mirren
Stella
Albert Brooks
Dr. Butz
Anne Bancroft
Nun
Wallace Shawn
Furnaceman
Jeffrey Wright
Rafael ("Bed Two")
Margo Martindale
Constance 'Connie' Potter
Philip Bosco
Dr. Hofstader
Edward Herrmann
Robert Payne
Colm Feore
Richard Wilson
Al Waxman
Sheldon Hatchett
Harvey Atkin
Judge Fatale
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Lumet's third hospital film after The Hospital and The Verdict, completing his unofficial 'American institutions are broken' trilogy. He reportedly took a massive pay cut to get it made.
Released months before the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 reshaped Medicare, the film's HMO horror stories felt exaggerated then — now they read like prophecy. James Spader's deadpan reaction shots deserve their own retrospective.
AU
US
