"Extreme Measures" is virtually an unacknowledged remake of the 1978 film "Coma". Guy Luthan is a young British doctor working at a major hospital in New York. When one of his patients dies with baffling symptoms, Luthan tries to investigate. His efforts, however, are not successful. The man's body mysteriously disappears and his colleagues prove uncooperative. This only fuels his suspicions that something underhand is going on and he makes further enquiries. He warned that if he persists he could be putting his career in jeopardy, and when he ignores this warning he is framed for possession of cocaine. He is forced to go on the run in an effort to clear his name, and discovers that a number of leading doctors, including the eminent neurosurgeon Dr Myrick, are carrying out unethical experiments on the city's vagrants and derelicts in an attempt to find a cure for spinal injuries. Luthan's dead patient was the victim of one of these experiments.
As others have pointed out, this theme of a man trying to clear himself of an unjust accusation of crime is a common one in the thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock. (One difference between this film and most of Hitchcock's is that there is no romantic interest for the hero). By moving out of his normal territory of comedies, especially romantic comedies, Hugh Grant was clearly trying to extend his range. He is not an actor one would normally associate with thrillers, but his casting here makes sense. In some thrillers, the hero is a man- a soldier, spy, police officer or private eye- who is used to facing danger and risk as part of his job description. In others- and this is the more common pattern in Hitchcock films- he is an ordinary guy who suddenly and unexpectedly finds himself in danger. (Or, one might say, an ordinary Guy- Luthan shares this Christian name with the hero of Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train"). "Extreme Measures" is an example of this second type of thriller, and we can accept Grant as the Everyman character out of his depth because we are so used to seeing him play Joe Average in films like "Four Weddings and a Funeral". Had the role gone to an actor better known for playing "tough guy" roles in thrillers, say Bruce Willis, Pierce Brosnan or Mel Gibson, he might not have seemed so convincing.
Gene Hackman generally makes a reliable villain, and he is reasonably good here as Myrick, but this is not one of his really great bad-guy roles such as Sheriff Daggett in "Unforgiven", Captain Ramsey in "Crimson Tide" or Rankin Fitch, the monstrously cynical lawyer in "Runaway Jury". Myrick attempts to defend his actions as being necessary in the interests of medical science, with a few having to be sacrificed in order to benefit the many, but these attempts at self-justification do not really succeed in making this a serious drama about medical ethics. Certainly, Luthan is not tempted for one minute to sympathise with Myrick's viewpoint- he retorts "I don't care if you find a cure for every disease on the planet! You tortured and murdered those men upstairs, and that makes you a disgrace to your profession!". I doubt if many of the audience will be won over by Myrick either.
Michael Apted's career as a film director (in Britain he is equally well known as a television director) has been rather mixed in terms of quality. He has made one great film ("Nell") and some very good ones (such as "Gorillas in the Mist"), but much of his output consists of competent but routine thrillers such as "Gorky Park", "Thunderheart" and the Bond vehicle "The World is Not Enough". "Extreme Measures" falls into this category- it is exciting enough while it lasts, but contains nothing of any deeper significance. 6/10
As others have pointed out, this theme of a man trying to clear himself of an unjust accusation of crime is a common one in the thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock. (One difference between this film and most of Hitchcock's is that there is no romantic interest for the hero). By moving out of his normal territory of comedies, especially romantic comedies, Hugh Grant was clearly trying to extend his range. He is not an actor one would normally associate with thrillers, but his casting here makes sense. In some thrillers, the hero is a man- a soldier, spy, police officer or private eye- who is used to facing danger and risk as part of his job description. In others- and this is the more common pattern in Hitchcock films- he is an ordinary guy who suddenly and unexpectedly finds himself in danger. (Or, one might say, an ordinary Guy- Luthan shares this Christian name with the hero of Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train"). "Extreme Measures" is an example of this second type of thriller, and we can accept Grant as the Everyman character out of his depth because we are so used to seeing him play Joe Average in films like "Four Weddings and a Funeral". Had the role gone to an actor better known for playing "tough guy" roles in thrillers, say Bruce Willis, Pierce Brosnan or Mel Gibson, he might not have seemed so convincing.
Gene Hackman generally makes a reliable villain, and he is reasonably good here as Myrick, but this is not one of his really great bad-guy roles such as Sheriff Daggett in "Unforgiven", Captain Ramsey in "Crimson Tide" or Rankin Fitch, the monstrously cynical lawyer in "Runaway Jury". Myrick attempts to defend his actions as being necessary in the interests of medical science, with a few having to be sacrificed in order to benefit the many, but these attempts at self-justification do not really succeed in making this a serious drama about medical ethics. Certainly, Luthan is not tempted for one minute to sympathise with Myrick's viewpoint- he retorts "I don't care if you find a cure for every disease on the planet! You tortured and murdered those men upstairs, and that makes you a disgrace to your profession!". I doubt if many of the audience will be won over by Myrick either.
Michael Apted's career as a film director (in Britain he is equally well known as a television director) has been rather mixed in terms of quality. He has made one great film ("Nell") and some very good ones (such as "Gorillas in the Mist"), but much of his output consists of competent but routine thrillers such as "Gorky Park", "Thunderheart" and the Bond vehicle "The World is Not Enough". "Extreme Measures" falls into this category- it is exciting enough while it lasts, but contains nothing of any deeper significance. 6/10