A rather sad and desperate attempt to capture some of the mix of comic and dramatic expertise found in the television series Scrubs marks Dennis Cooper’s The Heart Specialist. The film really doesn’t know what it wants to be most of the time, and its erratic tone, rocky structure, and indifferent to disagreeable characters make sure it’s not a film for the masses. The liner notes refer to the movie as a romantic comedy, but that’s a complete misnomer. Romance is a precious commodity that isn’t really at the heart of this movie. As for comedy, that’s in the eye and ear of the beholder, but there’s little here that’s really amusing.
The Heart Specialist (Blu-ray)
Directed by Dennis Cooper
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Year: 2006
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 1080p AVC codec
Running Time: 100 minutes
Rating: R
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English
Subtitles: SDH, Spanish
Region: A
MSRP: $29.99
Release Date: October 4, 2011
Review Date: October 6, 2011
The Film
2/5
Harvard medical graduate Dr. Ray Howard (Brian White) comes to a Florida teaching hospital to begin serving his residency. Chief resident Dr. Sidney Zachary (Wood Harris) decides to take the arrogant Dr. Ray under his wing to teach him not only humility but also to instill in him a need to connect to his patients. Zachery, though, has other ways of dealing with patients: through humor which he polishes up on with frequent visits to the area’s comedy club where he does a standup act as Dr. Z. He and girl friend Donna (Zoe Saldana) are also working on recording his taped memoirs for a book so that he can, like his idol Michael Crichton, become a best selling author who’s also a doctor.
Writer-diector Dennis Cooper has a long history with television medical shows such as St. Elsewhere and Chicago Hope, but the jarring jumps from comedy to drama, from earnestness to crass humor are just infuriating not allowing an audience to settle into any kind of mood for very long. The abrupt leaps to that comedy club to watch Dr. Z do his act (a very unfunny act that the audiences find hysterical) kill any chance of sustaining serious storylines. There is a subplot involving timid intern Mitchell Kwan (Kenneth Choi) as the figurative punching bag of two sadistic staff doctors (played by the talented Scott Paulin and David S. Lee with a strange Slavic accent) which regularly interrupts everything else going on for no apparent purpose except to throw down some sarcastic putdowns on the spineless young doctor. Worse, for a medical-based film, we get no sense of medical professionalism as we’re not allowed to get to know any of the patients or their ailments or follow their treatment. Patients become cameo moments to offer cheap gags or peek-a-boo moments for some guest stars (Marla Gibbs in two spotlight appearances, Ed Asner and Irene Tsu in single scenes). The movie is also burdened by having co-male leads who are both rather unappealing as characters. Cooper tries a last-ditch effort to bring some sentiment to the movie with a late story reveal that’s supposed to tug at our heartstrings, but it’s too little and too late. By the time we learn a big secret, we’ve ceased to care.
Neither Wood Harris nor Brian White make very convincing doctors, but then, the film doesn’t really allow them to do much in the way of practicing medicine. Zoe Saldana has some spunk as Dr. Z’s main squeeze though her importance fades drastically in the film’s second half. Kenneth Choi works up convincing tears as the doctors constantly rip into him, but we’re not given that moment where he finally grows a backbone and stands up for himself. Marla Gibbs’ cameo appearances as a mental patient who refuses to take her lithium find her as sassy as ever making suggestive remarks to every male in sight, and her two scenes do give the film its only glow of comic professionalism.
Video Quality
4/5
The film has been framed at 1.78:1 and is presented in 1080p using the AVC codec. Though sharpness is usually very good, there are curious moments where the focus puller must have been asleep as close-ups, particularly during several outings at the beach, become soft and somewhat hazy. Color is nicely saturated, and flesh tones are natural at all times. The film has been divided into 24 chapters.
Audio Quality
3.5/5
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix really wastes the surround capabilities of the sound design by not doing much with the rear channels. Yes, Tree Adams and Christopher Faizi’s music gets a decent spread through the soundstage, but with all of the activity at the hospital and at the comedy club where multiple scenes take place, the surround fields should have been a great deal more alive. Dialogue has been placed firmly in the center channel.
Special Features
1/5
The disc offers four deleted scenes which have been combined into one 4 ½-minute montage. There is no option to view them separately. They’re presented in 1080p.
There are 1080p promo trailers for The 5th Quarter, N-Secure, Win Win, and Terri.
In Conclusion
2/5 (not an average)
Dennis Cooper’s hapless comedy-drama The Heart Specialist doesn’t offer much of either comedy or drama. Its witless, plodding construction and mostly unappealing characters offer only a film that has, in effect, flatlined.
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC