Customer Reviews

Medicine Man [VHS]

5 star:		(63)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The critics really blew it on this one. (Leonard Maltin must have been having a really bad day.) Some of the reviews are absolutely bewildering - as if they saw some other movie.

"Medicine Man" is the rare action/adventure film with something more than car chases and shootouts on its mind, a passionate parable of the rampant destruction of the rainforest and the miracles of nature now threatened by "progress".

Sean Connery gives one of the best, most nuanced performances of his career, almost certainly the definitive "mature" Connery role, and Lorraine Bracco is a perfect foil as the sharp-tongued but endearing "Dr. Bronx" - their conflict thoroughly understandable and its resolution none too easy.

The breathtaking beauty of the rainforest and the haunting images of the native tribes driven from their homes (or decimated by the white man's diseases) are punctuated by thrilling aerial sequences high above in the jungle canopy - "the top shelf in the pharmacological superstore".

Forget the critics. This is an almost perfectly realized film, one that just gets better with each viewing, one that stays with you long after it's over.

For Connery fans, I also recommend one of his early (and nearly forgotten) films, "The Hill".

Dr. Campbell (Sean Connery), a biochemist who has been doing extensive medical research for years in the lush rainforests of the Amazon, has found what just might be a MAJOR medical breakthrough. But that's not to say that he wouldn't enjoy just a little bit of help. Dr. Crane (Lorraine Bracco), a fellow biochemist comes to the aid of Dr. Campbell to help him as much as she can.

Will Dr. Campbell and Dr. Crane be able to find this miracle cure that could be just over the horizon? Will they be able to set aside their differences and actually be able to get along one of these days? These are the major questions that watching "Medicine Man" will answer for all the viewers who watch this great movie.

"Medicine Man" is one of those movies that doesn't need a bit of special effects to make it an unforgettable movie. It's a film that is real compelling and interesting to watch from start to finish without ever getting boring. With Sean Connery as the lead character, you know there will be great acting included.

If you're a fan of great movies, I definitely recommend to not miss out on your chance to watch and even own "Medicine Man."

Medicine man could almost be made as a play as the vast majority of the time is taken up by dialogue between Connery and Bracco. Connery's character has found a cure for cancer, but cannot tell which of the various specimens he has been testing is the right one. There is rather a lot of moralising about the destruction of the rain forest, and whilst admirable sentiments are being expressed, we only need to be told once. The human story is more interesting than the ostensible plot, with Connery being driven by guilt over various events in his life which will become apparent over the cou1se of the film. There is the rather predictable love affair between Connery and his 25 years younger co-star, but thankfully not much time is taken up with this. The jungle settings are well-filmed and shown off to their best advantage, while the native peoples are treated with respect, without being patronising. Despite my reservations, Connery's charisma overcomes all of this to make an interesting, entertaining film.

This movie is a favourite of the WISE Writers and Readers, beings that we are big Sean Connery fans!!... makes this movie work is the chemistry between the two leads. Lorraine Brocco absolutely is stunning!! She is a great comedic talent, a delight to watch as she matches wits with the ageless (only keeps getting better) Connery. The charm of their relationship, the incisive banter, the stunning location work, delivers one engaging movie.

They work in the question of the destruction of the rain forrest, and the real cost to man kind; the loss of moisture for rainfal, the loss of special one of a kind plants that could hold the cure for many modern diseases. I know many critics tried to put it down for offering no real solutions to this problem. Get real. This is a movie, it is meant to entertain. If it makes us think and wonder, then it has done it job. Solutions are up to the real world, not some fictional work. If someone could offer solutions to the problem in two hours - they would be a very rich man. I detest easy 'potshots' such as that.

The leads are charming, the natives in the film are wonderful, the scenery gorgeous ( Connery, Bracco AND the jungle!!), the writing is sheer perfection.

What more could you want??? From the moment Bracco arrives to find Connery in a bird costume and she introduces herself as Crane and he drunkenly replies, "No, Tucan.", you know you are in for a delightful time.

Also, notice the inside joke about the snake's name!!

DVD only enhances the experience of this utterly charming movie.

Despite the mediocre review given it by Amazon reviewer Tom Keogh, I thought this movie was actually pretty good. It has an interesting premise.

Connery plays an eccentric medical scientist looking for a miracle cure in the Brazilian rainforest, and I can't think of a better person for the part. Despite what Keogh said about the lack of chemistry between Bracco and Connery, I thought it worked out reasonably well, and there are some funny and touching scenes in the movie, such as the duel between Connery and the local witch doctor, who is angry with Connery for upstaging him with his modern, western medical skills. Connery has to fight the doctor, but knows he needs to let the witch doctor win to save face, and also so the witch doctor will show Connery how to obtain the cure which he had once and has lost.

All in all, a pretty good movie, considering it's probably one of Connery's least well-known flicks.

If limited to taking but one Sean Connery film to a desert island retreat, this would be the choice. 'Big Tam' displays his best in this film set in the Brazilian rainforest. With a conscience ravaged with guilt for accidently decimating an Indian village, his life as a field researcher is tempered by his dealings with the native population. An opportunity for redemption appears in the form of a cure for 'the plague of the twentieth century' which he's found, then lost. Portraying the questing scientist shows Connery at the fullest of his acting powers, which are here outstanding. None of the other films since the end of his James Bond series comes even close [ENTRAPMENT would be #2 for the desert island]. Connery moves from towering rages through deep irony to heartfelt caring without a false step.

His opposite in this film, Lorraine Bracco, is a mystery. None of the other films she's made even approaches her performance here. She's hardly a top-notch actress, but it would seem Big Tam brought out whatever 'best' she has in making Medicine Man. The scene of her under the influence of yoko extract was hilarious. She must be given credit for trying. It would be nice to know whether her role was created around her New York City origins.

There are those who grizzle about this being a 'message film'. In an era when nearly every human foible becomes the subject of books and films, a little publicity of what is happening to the source of the oxygen we breathe shouldn't be out of place. Connery's line 'less rain forest means less rain' must have come as a shock to those who caught it. Most people seem to think the opposite is the case and that cleared forests can recover easily. Even now, the Brazilian government is preparing to sweep away thousands of square miles of your source of breathable air. McTiernan had his work cut out in covering topics as diverse as field biology, medicine, environmental mechanisms, native peoples' issues and the personal relationship of the two main characters in this film. The half-hearted comments of Maltin and Keogh in the Editorial Reviews section above reflect the superficial view offered by too many critics. This film is a fine achievement and one that can be seen repeatedly. Buy and watch this film. Then have friends over for a showing.

If you are into anthropology or the environment, then you will definitely love this flick. It's hard to describe the movie without giving away the story, but it has a very interesting twist ending. I must admit that it could be taken as a bit of a propaganda movie for environmentalists...but for me, that just adds to its charm.

The casting, acting, and staging are all very well done. The movie is from 1992 but brings up an issue that is very pertinent in today's world.

As with many older movies that have been switched over to DVD, the special features can be considered weak/non-existent.

In this movie the lead scientist of a pharmaceutical firm (Bracco) travels to the Amazon rainforest to see what a field botanist (Connery) is up to. In the course of their interactions the street-wise city-dwelling Bracco experiences the transformative value of spending time in nature. At the same time, Connery struggles to come to grips with a personal history that torments him. In the meantime the two of them work together to race against time to locate the source of a possible miracle drug.

I show the movie "Medicine Man" to all of my Introduction to Environmental Studies classes. Many of my students have seen the movie either in the theater or on video, but they have viewed it only as entertainment. There is a lot more to this movie than entertainment value though.

If I were reviewing this movie for entertainment value alone I would probably rate it at about 4 stars. The cast is good, Connery and Bracco do a great job, and I particularly enjoy the supporting cast of local folks.

The reason I rate it as a 5 star movie, and show it to my classes, is that the movie shows a believable story of the plight of indigenous peoples and the loss of pristine habitat, the importance of maintaining biological diversity, and the detrimental impacts humans can and do have on the natural environment. More important than that, however, are the lessons that can be picked up with respect to the importance of nature's ability to change people's attitudes if they step back and give it a chance.

Good entertainment, and a great message about the environment.

5 stars.

Alan Holyoak, Ph.D., Director of Environmental Studies, Manchester College, IN

This film is not spectacular. But it is one of the first important films on the deep value of the Amazon's rain forest. A doctor discovers there a plant from which he extracts a miraculous element that cures nearly everything. Then he tries to start again and produce more of the drug, following his notes. And he fails. He never matches the first batch. He asks for an assistant, and the film makes it funny by sending a young woman. She re-does everything and she prepares new concoctions. And suddenly it works. Why ? Because, running out of sterile sugar she uses the one that is on the breakfast table. And in this sugar there are ants. The famous peak 37 that gives its potency to the drug comes from the secretions of the ants in the sugar. What cures man is an animal element. Then the suspense of the film comes from the coming of a road, of the road builders who are pushing the Indians, the forest and their secrets away. Today we are more advanced in the denunciation of this scandalous destruction of the rain forest, just as much as we are more advanced in the destruction of the rain forest itself. But the film is kind of quaint, « precious » as is the last word of the film itself. Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, Paris Universities II and IX.

An introspective scientist, Dr. Robert Campbell, lives in the Brazilian jungle. He is attempting to isolate a potion that will cure cancer. He thinks that he has it, but then he loses it. Chromatography keeps showing Peak 37 missing and, without this peak, the potions are useless. Will he ever re-discover the missing ingredient? There is also a race against time. Developers who are cutting down the jungle are getting closer and closer.

He lives among native Amazonians. At one time, there were 9 million of them. But now the Europeans' diseases have reduced the native population to only 200,000. At one time, he has a joust with the native medicine man. The encounter is hilarious.

Dr. Campbell is joined by Dr. Bronx, a scientist who had studied in such prestigious places as Cambridge. But she thinks that he is discriminating against her because of her gender. She also complains that he treats her as a 19 year-old graduate student seeking to develop a resume. At one point, she accuses him of scientific fraud. But in time their professional (and personal) relationships take a completely new turn.