Gross Anatomy (1989)

Just perfect...

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

After several years of trying, wavy-haired fisherman's son Matthew Modine (as Joseph "Joe" Slovak) is finally accepted at medical school. This is helped by his admission that he wants to be a doctor for the paycheck. Arriving at a school that looks very much like USC (aka The University of Southern California), Mr. Modine initially doesn't want to crack the books. He'd rather get into beautiful lab mate Daphne Zuniga (as Laurie Rorbach). Modine may also secretly desire professor Christine Lahti (as Rachel Woodruff), but not anal retentive roommate Todd Field (as David Schreiner)...The title is going to make many think this is gross-out movie, but this is really a romantic college comedy, with cadavers...Modine's lead character is very smart, but obviously not ready to take the Hippocratic Oath. This is something Prof. Lahti notices when she asks him to diagnosis a terminal case. He gets it right, but is heartless. Maybe he's just reacting to her being a hard-nose, because we see Modine's humanity in the way he treats Mr. Field's character (hope he's okay). The film is off balance because we care more about what happens to roommate Field, squirrelly John Scott Clough (as Miles Reed) and ovulating Alice Carter (as Kim McCauley) than Modine or Ms. Zuniga, who are likable but bland.****** Gross Anatomy (10/20/89) Thom Eberhardt ~ Matthew Modine, Daphne Zuniga, Christine Lahti, Todd Field

This is a genteel romantic comedy about the first year of medical school from the perspective of Laurie Rorbach (Daphne Zuniga). There's no hold barred from day one onward: This is a total commitment.Enter Joe Slovak (Matthew Modine. He's the wise guy from a lower class background but he's got a system for beating the odds and getting by with a minimum of effort. His natural intelligence pulls him through most test of wills, but that chip on the shoulder attitude leaves him with utter contempt for the concept that something greater than educating a medical mechanic is at work. A wise instructor Dr. Rachel Woodruff (Christine Lahti) is out to teach Slovak a powerful lesson.The lab partner make up an excellent supporting cast. The washout student who is bright willing though unable, the Joe-College type who has pretensions and ambitions as thinly veiled as Slovak's sarcasm, and the female student whose husband wants to keep her barefoot and pregnant give a good cross-section of young adulthood which is of course still in a "becoming" stage.I was surprised to see that this delightful film did not get higher ratings.

If it weren't for the fact that the studio folks deliberately misrepresented this film, it might have gotten a score of 5 or even 6. That's because I clearly remember it being advertised as a kooky comedy about medical school AND when I saw it soon afterwards, it was about as wild and kooky as stripping wallpaper. Instead, it mostly consisted of the lead (Matthew Modine) trying to get laid. And, much of his attention was focused on the older and more experienced Christine Lahti. For the most part, it looked like a made for TV movie grafted onto a raunchy 80s teen flick. The end result was very dull and unlikely to make anyone particularly happy--like eating a banquet made up only of white bread and ice water.

Aside from the goofy title, this is a nice diversion of a film. Matthew Modine plays the role he does so well (see "Married to the Mob"). Casual about authority, bucking the system, a great guy at heart. Daphne Zuniga starts out stuffy and learns to relax. Good fun.