Hospital, The (1971)

Paddy Chayefsky's scathing satire on the medical industry has all of the bite of a good satire but lacks the focus. George C. Scott plays a troubled doctor who faces personal problems amidst a slew of mysterious malpractice deaths of his own staff-members. Chayefsky's dialogue is snappy as usual, occasionally drifting too far into medical gobbledygook for its own good. Diana Rigg is a wonderful actress (and very beautiful), but the development between her character and George C. Scott's character is rushed and unrealistic. The reasoning behind the deaths felt unsatisfactory as well, although after the initial shock I admit I was intrigued, no matter how screwy. The point the film was making about the health care industry was illustrated well in many moments of the film, but I felt like the film was too distracted for it to work. The Hospital has some good things it's trying to say but just doesn't manage to get out quite right. Five years later, Chayefsky fixed the problems that marred The Hospital and wrote one of the most prophetic, pointed, and witty satires of our time: Network.

6/10

PS: For several of the tracking master shots, the framing on the DVD chops the heads off the characters. The film was still watchable, but those shots did appear to be framed for a fullscreen shot (possibly an open matte?) then cropped incorrectly to 1.85:1.

Altered States (1980)

William Hurt carries this sci-fi film as a driven, brilliant scientist who experiments with hallucination into dangerous territory. Much of the script is taken directly from the Chayefsky-penned novel it is based on, and while it is smart, it is way too dense for it's own good. It worked for Network, but it doesn't work here. The story is highly creative and unique, but I found the ending to be a big let down. The ending was partly saved by the brilliant special effects-work. While obviously all practical or visual effects, I felt like some of the special effects were as good as (if not better than) modern CG-aided efforts.

7/10