Sidney Lumet filmed this hospital satire at a Canadian studio. Alcoholic Dr. Butz (
Albert Brooks in old-age makeup) advises younger Dr. Werner Ernst (
James Spader) to only treat patients with much insurance. "When the lawyers start crawling all over you," says Butz, "that's when you know you're a doctor." Ernst, a second-year resident working in the ICU with head nurse Stella (
Helen Mirren), winds up in the middle of a dispute between two sisters (
Kyra Sedgwick and Margo Martindale). One wants to pull the plug on their wealthy father; the other demands that he remain alive (at a cost of $112,800 a month). Soon events swivel from the money-mad medical mire to equally murky legalistics. Steven Schwartz's screenplay was adapted from the novel by Richard Dooling. Shown at the 1997 Chicago Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide