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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
In interviews, Richard Dreyfuss often refers to Whose Life Is It Anyway? as having been made at the nadir of his substance-abuse problem in the 1980s. Yet it's not too bad. Based on the hit Broadway play, it's a debate about the ethics of euthanasia and one person's right to choose whether to live or die. Dreyfuss plays a sculptor who, after a car accident, is left a paraplegic. Appalled at the prospect of a life in which he has no control of anything, he pleads with hospital authorities to help him die. When they refuse, he takes them to court. Dreyfuss brings great passion to a role in which he can't even use his body; the humor is often pitch-black, but it works, both as a script and as a cinematically opened-up version of a play. --Marshall Fine
Product Description
Ken Harrison is an artist that makes sculptures. One day he is involved in a car accident, and is paralyzed from his neck. All he can do is talk, and he wants to die. In hospital he make friends with some of the staff, and they support him when he goes to trial to be allowed to die.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Extraordinary compelling, unforgettable, frequently painful, yet intriguing!
January 16, 2007
Ken Harrison (Richard Dreyfuss) is an artist... His fingers make things of beauty...
When he lived through a car accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down, we understood why he wanted to be left alone to die...
Ken moved from a world of life and creation, to an empty world where he can't move even a single finger...
Lying under the white sheets of the hospital bed, he is subjected to stress under the shock of his another reality... The artist has gone... The creator of an art expressed in all its different dimensions, round in relief, imagery, symbolism, all vanished in seconds...
But his human spirit remains alive under the severity, the compulsion, the threats of his new reality...
Ken was a cunning sculptor, skillful, ingenious in the use of his mind and hands... He is now charming, capable to seduce the whole nursing staff by pillow talk...
The movie deals with many hypothesis about the right to die...
Does a patient have the right to choose to die? Does he have the right to refuse life-sustaining medical treatment, even if that means certain immediate or accelerated death?
Doctor Emerson (John Cassavetes) wants to prolong the life of Ken... He wants him to live his disability as quadriplegic even feeling so down... For him, everybody has their own struggles in life...
Richard Dreyfuss is superb as Ken Harrison, a quick moving mind, true and clever, who displays unpleasant, troublesome reality... He relies on his intelligence and energy rather than his looks and charisma to win his fight, his right to die...
John Cassavetes i excellent in his role, intense as Dr. Emerson, the Chief of Staff... He plays the role with personality, ability and style dealing with the problem with absolute professionalism...
Christine Lahti (Dr. Clare Scott) is very appealing, too powerful, tempting and charming, tolerant and understanding, along with big heart... She is convincing, closer than most to truth or at least to the subjective reality of her patient...
The film is extraordinary compelling, unforgettable, frequently painful, yet intriguing!
What we learn about ethics and how to make decisions may be useful in this real world... The path taken really does transform the meaning...
When he lived through a car accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down, we understood why he wanted to be left alone to die...
Ken moved from a world of life and creation, to an empty world where he can't move even a single finger...
Lying under the white sheets of the hospital bed, he is subjected to stress under the shock of his another reality... The artist has gone... The creator of an art expressed in all its different dimensions, round in relief, imagery, symbolism, all vanished in seconds...
But his human spirit remains alive under the severity, the compulsion, the threats of his new reality...
Ken was a cunning sculptor, skillful, ingenious in the use of his mind and hands... He is now charming, capable to seduce the whole nursing staff by pillow talk...
The movie deals with many hypothesis about the right to die...
Does a patient have the right to choose to die? Does he have the right to refuse life-sustaining medical treatment, even if that means certain immediate or accelerated death?
Doctor Emerson (John Cassavetes) wants to prolong the life of Ken... He wants him to live his disability as quadriplegic even feeling so down... For him, everybody has their own struggles in life...
Richard Dreyfuss is superb as Ken Harrison, a quick moving mind, true and clever, who displays unpleasant, troublesome reality... He relies on his intelligence and energy rather than his looks and charisma to win his fight, his right to die...
John Cassavetes i excellent in his role, intense as Dr. Emerson, the Chief of Staff... He plays the role with personality, ability and style dealing with the problem with absolute professionalism...
Christine Lahti (Dr. Clare Scott) is very appealing, too powerful, tempting and charming, tolerant and understanding, along with big heart... She is convincing, closer than most to truth or at least to the subjective reality of her patient...
The film is extraordinary compelling, unforgettable, frequently painful, yet intriguing!
What we learn about ethics and how to make decisions may be useful in this real world... The path taken really does transform the meaning...
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
This is one of the best, most poignant films ever made. Please produce this on DVD soon. I've been waiting for years!
14 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:VHS Tape
Its been out since 1981 already. Don't you think its time the price got lowered for the average person. I've been looking for it second hand for years. Tell the studio to lower the price please.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Emotional rollercoaster
Richard Dreyfuss nails this! One of the best movies I've ever seen. Well written and acted. A powerful, moving story
Published 1 month ago by Sue
3.0 out of 5 stars
I like Richard Dreyfuss...
...just not in this film so much. This film is a bit of a stinker. Easy to pick apart. Pretty lousy overall. Christine Lahti sure looks great. But the film fell flat.
Published 1 month ago by JP
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great
This is one of my favorite movies. I had it on VHS and had basically given up hope of ever finding it on DVD. It arrived very quickly and is in excellent condition. Thank you!
Published 3 months ago by MaryAnne Riley
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of his best!
I saw this long ago, and have been wanting to see it again. Dreyfuss' performance is as moving and heart-rending as I remembered it.
Published 5 months ago by Daniel J. Tabor
5.0 out of 5 stars
True to life
Not very many movies reflect the struggles and challenges of quadriplegics including the mental and emotional impact of leading a life from a wheelchair quite as well as this one. Read more
Published 6 months ago by chucky j
3.0 out of 5 stars
Whose Life
Good movie version of the screenplay. Great price for the DVD. This movie has all but been forgotten and it was nice to see that it is still available. Read more
Published 11 months ago by William
5.0 out of 5 stars
No Easy Answers
A 32yo man becomes paralyzed from the neck down and wants to stop dialysis, go into a coma, and die. "The system" prevents this. Read more
Published 12 months ago by mr. critic
5.0 out of 5 stars
Replaced finally
I had this on VHS but had been unable to find on DVD.
On the teaching side. I have used this film to facilitate discussions on fragility of life, patient vulnerability,... Read more
On the teaching side. I have used this film to facilitate discussions on fragility of life, patient vulnerability,... Read more
Published 13 months ago by JasonPsyD
5.0 out of 5 stars
Upbeat film on a tough subject
Richard Dreyfus gives an outstanding performance as a Quadriplegic
This well written script addresses the issue of patient rights in health care decisions that affect a... Read more
This well written script addresses the issue of patient rights in health care decisions that affect a... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Bob from Osher
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent
I had lost my original copy, so bought used thru Amazon. It is an insightful and I find a deeply moving movie about the Right to Die! Always allows me a good cry!
Published on May 1, 2010 by S. Redflower
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