Customer Reviews

Gross Anatomy [VHS]

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While "Batman" may have pulverized "Gross Anatomy" at the box office in the summer of 1989, this film is worth seeing and owning. This is one of those films where you watch a character evolve in front of your eyes. You watch Matthew Modine's character grow up in the film. As he goes from being a careless flunky who barely made his way through a less than top notch school, you see, as Christine Lahti does, that he has something. And she makes him believe it. And finally, in an emotional scene in a diner and an even more emotional scene in a classroom before final exams, you realize he has. A great film that you can identify with if you've ever known someone who seemed to have so much going for him, but seemed to just want to play the clown all the time. A beautiful film.

"Gross Anatomy" is a predictable, but heartwarming, little film about five eager first-year medical students. I appreciated the occasionally goofy medical humor and the fine performances from all the actors, notably Christine Lahti, as a rigidly serious, if ultimately well-intentioned anatomy instructor This film has been sadly overlooked for years; it deserves more than a passing glance.

In my opinion, this movie never received the recognition that it deserved. As a medical student hopeful, I was drawn in by the medical school backdrop of the film. Aside from that,I also feel that the movie's use of drama, romance, and comedy in the main characters' struggle to discover things about themselves and each other was superb. Although largely underrated, this remains one of my favorites.

I found this title in the comedy section at the video store. It is more of a romantic drama with comedic elements. Modine excells at the sensitive smart-aleck role found in "Gross Anatomy," a la "Vision Quest." He plays a cocky med student, with his own way of doing things, thus ruffling the feathers of the more conservative characters he meets. Along the way, he falls in love with Daphne Zuniga's character who don't immediately mesh. Film langours at parts where Modine and Dr. Woodruff argue. However, interplay between Modine and Zuniga is great. Worth a look.

I am always disturbed to see the lack of recognition which "Gross Anatomy" has suffered. It is in my opinion one of the best films ever produced. The humour is good, but more significant is the character development which is so perceptive and subtle. It is certainly worth seeing, unfortunately it appears to be unavailable.

For my opinion the year of 1989 it has been one of the most exciting years in the history of cinema. Three movies from this particular year changed my life. First Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, second Dead Poets Society and third is Gross Anatomy. the last one i saw it the first time in TV but i loved it right away. This movie mixtures two of my favorite items. Colleges and relationships. It has believable and true characters and most of all it has Daphne Zunigha. Its directory it is honest and modest but above all some melancholy corresses the story. I think the character Matthew Modine plays is a genious who he dosen't know he is genious. I loved it and i am waiting for the european edition of the movie because i cant buy it yet.
Dont miss it either youare med student or not...

If you read all the reviews of this film below based on the VHS version, you'll see it is one of the more enjoyable films of the late 1980s. Everything said about it is correct, and I stand by the praise I gave it as well.
I just wanted to alert viewers of the DVD, however, that there are NO special features. It's a bit odd for a DVD not to have any, but that explains why this is is so inexpensive.
Of course, the nice thing is, it's widescreen, so you can see the full picture.

Gross Anatomy (1989) is a very accurate depiction of what medical school is like, but with a special twist: a carefree slacker of sorts (Joe Slovak) doesn't want to conform to the serious mindset that often accompanies being a medical student. Slovak's attitude and brilliance seem to work throughout the film, but is tested periodically by his peers and instructors who grow frustrated and impatient with his relaxed approach. If it were real life, I think that everyone he came in contact with would respect his down-to-earthness. Joe Slovak marches to the beat of a different drum, and for that, he is a refreshing character. Hey.......tomorrow's tomorrow!!!!"

Gross Anatomy follows one year of new medical students who end up together in a lab group and deal with the tribulations of their stressful assignments and responsibilities in order to pass. Matthew Modine plays the somewhat stereotypical "hotshot streetsmart bad boy" with some hidden insecurities, and his love interest, fellow medical student Daphne Zuniga (of Spaceballs) plays a more serious headstrong type who somewhat disappointingly goes for Modine a little too fast and soon to be totally realistic.
While the movie may be labeled as a Romantic Comedy, there honestly is not much comedy to be had in this film as it is not all that funny, nor does it really try to be. While the film mostly should be labeled a drama, there are few comedic influences as well as a vibe that almost promises a comedy but never really delivers, albeit a few scenes. No, this is mostly a fast-paced drama that at first feels as if it will not fare too well, except that during the second half of the film (and the cast's 2nd half year of medical school) tensions begin to arise, friction between lab partners and love interests as well as friction between students and professors.

What makes this film work is that while the script is not too daring on comedy or memorable choreography or even dialogue, it doesn't ever really try to be, but seems more concerned with building characters, ones in which reveal themselves throughout the school year in forms of deeper insecurities and stresses. While the characters do try and keep a professional attitude at first, the tensions of medical school assignments soon begin to weigh them down, thus they end up depending on each other emotionally more than they originally thought they would need to. This builds a set of characters who may not be the funnest people in the world, but are in fact VERY REAL. And that is where the film strikes gold. Some characters do surprising things that end up getting a few either kicked out or quitting. One throughout the film can either very much relate to it; either by the tension of taking on such a difficult field of study or seeing characters become downright raw with one another - yet virtues such as forgiveness and grace play a tremendous part, thus the film does an excellent job of almost unconsciously exploring many degrees and angles of the human psyche and heart, showing that there is so much more to us depending on what situations we find ourselves in.

I for one very much enjoyed the movie, not because it made me really laugh or cry or tense up, but because the characters felt more downright HUMAN than most movies I've regularly seen.

I originally watched this movie when it came out because of Matthew Modine. I knew what was going to happen as soon as it started. He was a slacker who would come around because of the girl. If you remember, there was a lot of those kind of movies back then. The reason it worked so well with me was because the actor's made me care about what they did. I bought the VHS tape when it came out. Now, I'm updating to the DVD. The movie holds up very well in this day and age. This movie combined with Vision Quest show why Matthew Modine was a very good actor.