8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Twenty Years Ahead of its Time, September 10, 2001
This review is from: Threshold [VHS] (VHS Tape)
With the recent news (July, 2001) of the implantation of a portable powered artificial heart in a patient in Louisville, Kentucky, real life finally catches up with the story told in Threshold. This quiet and prescient film from 1981 imagines the personal and ethical questions that are faced by a medical team who develop an artificial heart, and then are faced with the question of implanting it in their first patient, a young woman whose own heart is rapidly failing.
Donald Sutherland gives an understated and completely believable performance as the heart surgeon who leads the team. Jeff Goldblum plays the scientist-inventor of the heart, and his struggle for both recognition and an ethical understanding of what he has helped unleash is contrasted well against Sutherland's self-assuredness. Mare Winningham is the patient; she is almost whisper-quiet in her performance, pulling the audience in to be sure they hear her murmers. The scenes are remarkably accurate in detail, making the film seem almost like a documentary at times. The narrative remains strong, though, up to what is perhaps an overly-optimistic ending.
Emmy-award winning Richard Pearce directed Threshold, one of his first feature films. Recent work has included the video remake of South Pacific.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Best portrayal of a physician ever., May 19, 2007
This review is from: Threshold [VHS] (VHS Tape)
"Threshold" is a little recognized movie gem. The directing, photography, acting and screenplay are crisp and realistic. There are few, if any, bells and whistles here. Donald Sutherland's portrayal of a physician is the best I've ever seen on film. His every movement, every word, even his posture says "surgeon". If you love film and can do without action, sex, violence and vulgarity for two hours treat yourself to one great performance: Threshold.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A lost classic, December 29, 2008
An amazing film that is inexplicably unavailable in NTSC. I might have to order the PAL and convert it myself, although that is a serious pain. American distributors, wake up!!
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