Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Don't Believe the Hype

Better Late Then Never

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

As near as I can tell, this movie is based directly on Dr. Denton Cooley's career. Dr. Cooley WAS the first doctor to use an artificial heart in a patient whose heart was unrepairable on the operating table. He was chastised for doing this at the time without approval and so he started his own hospital, The Texas Heart Institute. This movie closely follows the circumstance of that operation that transpired in the 1960's long before the first APPROVED artificial heart was used in Barney Clark in December of 1982. I remember the time well as I had to wait an extra day for Dr. Cooley to operate on me as he was delayed in getting back to Houston after Mr. Clarks operation. This is one movie based on closely related facts.

This movie is so understated and yet so powerful and moving it took me by surprise. The three principle actors (Sutherland, Goldblum, Winningham) do a fantastic, believable job of bringing their characters to life. I was quite impressed with the writing, directing, and, as I've said, acting. The only thing that made me watch this movie, at first, was that I am a fan of Donald Sutherland. Once I sat through it I could not stop thinking about it. The quiet power Sutherland brings to his character is a fine example of an actor really "getting" his part Jeff Goldblum's handling of the part of the brash and slightly off center researcher is one of his best performances. Mare Winningham's quiet desperation as the heart patient is truly believable and heart felt without going over the top. Everyone in this movie really seemed to fit right in, giving the movie a "real-life" feel. An all around well done movie. Too bad it's not on DVD.

"Threshold" is a meticulously crafted Canadian drama with several stars in top form. There's Donald Sutherland as the heart doctor who is warm and genial, but still keeps an emotional distance from his daily activities. This is evidenced in the scene where he's talking about the miracles that he's experienced in his life, and he doesn't mention a single one of his life-saving operations. He doesn't see himself as a Superman, just an ordinary man doing his job. He has no ego or God-like persona, he's just a dedicated doctor. He is so phenomenal in this role that I would have to say it's my favorite Donald Sutherland performance, and he's given many great ones. I also thought this was one of Jeff Goldblum's best performances, right up there with "The Fly". In "Threshold", he is totally believable as a 34-year-old man who has dedicated probably every inch of free space in his mind thinking about his exhilirating project for over a decade, possibly all his life. When people scoff at his ideas with vague, juvenile arguments, he begins rambling and rambling about the specific virtues of his experiment so descriptively, passionately, sometimes euphorically that the result is often exciting, like in the incredible scene towards the end between him and the radio personality; he always totally ignores any childish comments and goes straight to the heart of the matter. It's no wonder that when his invention seems to work he is suddenly overcome with grandiosity, because he basically is his project, totally. Few people ever devote this much of their life and minds to one incredible concept like this, and as a result, he becomes carried away. Mare Winningham is such a priceless jewel in "Threshold" as Sutherland's first artificial heart transplant. She is luminous in every one of her scenes, particularly towards the end. We feel so much sympathy for her character and only want the best for her in the end. She should have been Oscar-nominated along with Sutherland and Goldblum for this. I'll never forget how much I could truly feel her sense of loss and fear after the surgery: "I'm just not the same." The film obviously raises the issue that many people feel Sutherland and Goldblum are "playing God", and I could be wrong, but that was kind of an impression I got from one scene right after Winningham's surgery when she's still sedated. Sutherland comes to see her and as he's watching her sleep he hears the ominous sound of a helicopter overhead, which we know is the press, but it's almost like a rumble from a God uknown, a private message to Sutherland, at least that's what I imagined his character might be thinking. I'm not sure if it signified an approval of or anger at the operation, but I would guess that in his character's mind it would have been the latter. The film has a deceptively happy ending. Winningham seems to physically fine in the end, but as she's walking with her parents from the hospital we can see in her eyes that she's lost herself and will probably never be the same. She may in time learn to forget somewhat about her anxieties or put them aside, but it's doubtful. Then of course there's always the possibility she could die the very next day, being that the prosthetic heart is so experimental. The film has some very beautifully lit scenes, like the first scene that we see Winningham talking to Sutherland on the street at night. It's the almost glowing background lights that make this scene so beautiful, apart from the actors; it has an ethereal feel to it. I walked away from "Threshold" feeling that I had gained something as a human being from watching it. Not only that, I enjoyed the experience! My rating: 10/10

Like most physicians, I tend not to watch medical shows in Movies and on Television; partly because they aren't usually very realistic - the real world seldom has sufficient drama to make good entertainment - and partly because one doesn't normally look for relaxation or entertainment in the same field in which one works. I saw Threshold for the first time recently only because I am a great admirer of Donald Sutherland's considerable talent. In this film, Sutherland is at his best, creating a portrait of a Cardiovascular Surgeon which is so real I could recognize several of the surgeons I know personally. He embodies both their strengths and weaknesses. Perhaps the most notable attribute he gives the fictitious Dr. Vrain is the total commitment and life absorbtion which a heart surgeon must have, even when it weakens his ability in other facits of life. One of the film's advisors was Dr. Denton Cooley, the pioneering Dallas Surgeon; Sutherland must have studied and worked with him extensively to so perfectly capture the personality and persona. The film follows his lead in making nurses, and their daily routines in the hospital unusally true and realistic also. This film is worth seeing just for the strength of Sutherland's portrayal and the realistic view of the medical world alone.