C'est ma vie, après tout!

This film is among the best of all time. I've seldom seen a movie in which all actors -- from the star to the smallest bit player -- deliver such forceful, realistic performances. I felt as if I were actually in that hospital room with Ken Harrison et al. While the film, which is about a sculpture who becomes a quadriplegic in a car accident and then decides to die rather than live life in that condition, has a seemingly depressing plot line, it is actually uplifting. Richard Dreyfus has the remarkable ability to infuse the main character with humor as well as sadness. It is a tribute to the director, writers, and actors that this movie, which could have easily been a maudlin weepy, turned out to be a paean to the indomitable human spirit.

This film may well deal with a taboo area of medicine which of course is patients control over their own death. The film deals with a very morbid subject area without descending into difficult viewing.Richard Dreyfuss's delivers a continum of comedy while not betraying the feeling of hopelessness felt by his character. Other than great dialogue and acting the film leaves the viewer questioning common sense notions of the rightieusness (probably spelt wrong sorry) of medical professionals as well as acknowledging the reality that the institution of medicine is a new religion that dictates its own values on the less powerful subjects in its claws (claws is too much isn't it). Great film!!!

Events in your life can shape and change you...sometimes radically. Before my heart attack and triple bypass I rated this 8*. Now, it is a most resounding 10*! In "Whose Life" the life-altering event for sculptor Ken Harrison (Richard Dreyfuss in an outstanding performance) was a traffic accident that left him quadriplegic.

About 6 months after the fact, Harrison begins to to realize that not only his sculptures, but his perception of the world, its interpretation and his own self-image had been shaped through the use of his hands. Of course, his hands "died" on the day of the accident, and therefore, Harrison concludes, so did he.

The film focuses on both his day to day struggle to cope with his unbearable condition and his confrontation with the hospital administration, or at least with its decision-making chief medical officer, Dr. Emerson (John Cassavetes-turning in a fine performance), who is intent on keeping Harrison in the hospital and under its care, against his will, even if that means declaring Harrison incompetent.

Christine Lahti also has a supporting role. The film is highly effective but not pretentious or preachy in the least.

10*STARS*.....ENJOY/DISFRUTELA!

Any comments, questions or observations, in English or Español, are most welcome!

GEE.... What ever happened to RICHARD DREYFUSS ANYWAY???

BUT FIRST... Let us FOCUS on the Title´s Content and Context:

Oftentimes...Events in your life can shape and change you... sometimes radically! Before my heart attack and triple bypass I rated this 8*. Now, it is a most resounding 10*********! In "WHOSE LIFE" the life-altering event for sculptor Ken Harrison (Richard Dreyfuss in an outstanding performance) was a traffic accident that left him quadriplegic.

About 6 months after the fact, Harrison begins to to realize that not only his sculptures, but his perception of the world, its interpretation and his own self-image had been shaped through the use of his hands. Of course, his hands "died" on the day of the accident, and therefore, Harrison concludes: SO DID HE!!!

WHOSE LIFE focuses on both his day to day struggle to cope with his unbearable condition and his confrontation with the hospital administration, or at least with its decision-making chief medical officer, Dr. Emerson (John Cassavetes-turning in a fine performance), who is intent on keeping Harrison in the hospital and under its care, against his will, even if that means declaring Harrison incompetent!

Christine Lahti also has a supporting role. The film is highly effective but not pretentious or preachy in the least!

10*STARS*.....ENJOY! / DISFRUTELA!

Any Comments, Questions or Observations, in ENGLISH o en ESPAÑOL, are most WELCOMME!

Years before Dr. Kevorkian brought the right to die into the national spotlight and made it a subject of public debate, Richard Dreyfuss's magnificent performance and Brian Clark's wonderful screenplay made the most cogent and realistic fictional argument I've seen on the issue. Dreyfuss is, without a doubt, a stellar performer -- in everything from "The Goodbye Girl" to "Mr. Holland's Opus," he consistently excels, but watching this movie again, I was flabbergasted by his ability. Using nothing but his head, he managed to evoke a stunning range of emotions. In my opinion, this is one of the better movies made in the last twenty years of the twentieth century.