The Medicine Show (2001)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Audio & Animation Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2001
Running Time	102:24
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Wendell Morris
Studio Distributor	Imagine Entertainmnt Imagine Entertainment	Starring	Jonathan Silverman Natasha Gregson Wagner Greg Grunberg Kari Wuhrer Annabelle Gurwitch Patty McCormack Maz Jobrani Jason Lemons Norman Parker Dennis Lipscomb
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	Rental	Music	Michael Mattioli

     I quite enjoyed Jonathan Silverman's performance in the little TV series The Single Guy and thought, perhaps, that he'd bring his gentle charm to this story. But The Medicine Show is asinine, brittle and twee and Silverman's performance is woeful. Taylor Darcy (Silverman) is a hip, slick cartoon writer who's living a solipsistic dream as a successful man about town. But his life is threatened by colon cancer, and his emotional world shatters with the realisation that this was the same condition that killed his father.

     Upon entering hospital he finds his usual defences of sardonic wit provide no protection from a rampaging disease and the dehumanising culture of hospital systems. His only refuge comes from his chance encounter with Lynn Piegi (Natasha Gregson Wagner) - a leukaemia sufferer. Together, they create their own world within a world.

     Ironically, this script was written and directed by one Wendell Morris, who used much of his own life experience to create the story. One would have thought that with such personal involvement, there would be a more cohesive end product. But the dialogue is dull, the story lifeless and there is exactly zero chemistry between the performers. Note to future writers/directors: liberal sprinklings of the "F" word and the "C" word does not automatically make your script more grown up.

     The Medicine Show is unengaging, unsympathetic claptrap. Perhaps belying the writer's background, the characters are 2 dimensional and cartoonish at best, with stereotypes abounding at every turn. If you would prefer a more edifying exploration of similar themes, try Randa Haines' 1991 offering, The Doctor, with William Hurt. Because this little puppy is DOA.

Video

     The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, Full Screen.

     The transfer is reasonably sharp, but suffers from compression issues which emphasises its 2 dimensional quality. There is reasonable shadow detail and little low level noise.

     The colour range was acceptable although skin tones had a tendency to ruddiness.

     There were some transfer artefacts, noticeably aliasing issues on the usual suspects.

     There were no subtitles.

     The disc is single sided with no layer change to contend with.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     There is one audio track on this DVD - English Dolby Digital 2.0. The sound is acceptable although not particularly inspiring.

     The dialogue quality was reasonable with reasonable ease in understanding what was being said. However, the audio sync was very bad and became progressively worse throughout the production.

     The original music by The Fun Girls was actually quite lovely, and was probably the freshest and most appealing aspect of the production.

     The surround presence was minimal and there was no subwoofer activity at all.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

      The menu design featured theme music and an animated clip.

Theatrical Trailer

     This is the strangest trailer I've ever seen - it's just a collection of clips from the film, but even cruder, rougher vision - like a montage of a B roll. I can't imagine that they ever used it to actually promote this film.

     There appears to be no difference between the R1 & R4 versions of this DVD. Choose your local region.

     The sickest thing about this film is the script. It is unsympathetic, unimaginative and dull. The performers drudge along from scene to scene - fully aware of which stereotype they are expected to portray. The result is ordinary in the extreme. Forget about it.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall