Search - Whose Life Is It Anyway? on DVD


Whose Life Is It Anyway?
Whose Life Is It Anyway
Actors: Richard Dreyfuss, John Cassavetes, Christine Lahti, Bob Balaban, Kenneth McMillan
Director: John Badham
Genres: Drama
R     2007     1hr 59min

Ken Harrison is an artist that makes sculptures. One day he is involved in a car accident, and is paralyzed from his neck. All he can do is talk, and he wants to die. In hospital he make friends with some of the staff, and...  more »

     
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Movie Details

Actors: Richard Dreyfuss, John Cassavetes, Christine Lahti, Bob Balaban, Kenneth McMillan
Director: John Badham
Creators: Mario Tosi, Gregg Champion, Lawrence P. Bachmann, Martin C. Schute, Ray Cooney, Brian Clark, Reginald Rose
Genres: Drama
Sub-Genres: Drama
Studio: Warner Home Video
Format: DVD - Color,Widescreen - Closed-captioned,Subtitled
DVD Release Date: 05/22/2007
Original Release Date: 01/01/1981
Theatrical Release Date: 01/01/1981
Release Year: 2007
Run Time: 1hr 59min
Screens: Color,Widescreen
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaDVD Credits: 1
Total Copies: 0
Members Wishing: 13
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Languages: English
Subtitles: English

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Movie Reviews

Such a good film, priced way to high for average viewer.
Kathryn Groob | 10/23/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Its been out since 1981 already. Don't you think its time the price got lowered for the average person. I've been looking for it second hand for years. Tell the studio to lower the price please."
This needs to be a DVD ASAP
Kathryn Groob | 07/21/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of the best, most poignant films ever made. Please produce this on DVD soon. I've been waiting for years!"
Extraordinary compelling, unforgettable, frequently painful,
Roberto Frangie | Leon, Gto. Mexico | 01/17/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)

"Ken Harrison (Richard Dreyfuss) is an artist... His fingers make things of beauty...

When he lived through a car accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down, we understood why he wanted to be left alone to die...

Ken moved from a world of life and creation, to an empty world where he can't move even a single finger...

Lying under the white sheets of the hospital bed, he is subjected to stress under the shock of his another reality... The artist has gone... The creator of an art expressed in all its different dimensions, round in relief, imagery, symbolism, all vanished in seconds...

But his human spirit remains alive under the severity, the compulsion, the threats of his new reality...

Ken was a cunning sculptor, skillful, ingenious in the use of his mind and hands... He is now charming, capable to seduce the whole nursing staff by pillow talk...

The movie deals with many hypothesis about the right to die...

Does a patient have the right to choose to die? Does he have the right to refuse life-sustaining medical treatment, even if that means certain immediate or accelerated death?

Doctor Emerson (John Cassavetes) wants to prolong the life of Ken... He wants him to live his disability as quadriplegic even feeling so down... For him, everybody has their own struggles in life...

Richard Dreyfuss is superb as Ken Harrison, a quick moving mind, true and clever, who displays unpleasant, troublesome reality... He relies on his intelligence and energy rather than his looks and charisma to win his fight, his right to die...

John Cassavetes i excellent in his role, intense as Dr. Emerson, the Chief of Staff... He plays the role with personality, ability and style dealing with the problem with absolute professionalism...

Christine Lahti (Dr. Clare Scott) is very appealing, too powerful, tempting and charming, tolerant and understanding, along with big heart... She is convincing, closer than most to truth or at least to the subjective reality of her patient...

The film is extraordinary compelling, unforgettable, frequently painful, yet intriguing!

What we learn about ethics and how to make decisions may be useful in this real world... The path taken really does transform the meaning...

"
Brilliant, searing, joyous
Roberto Frangie | 02/17/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Richard Dreyfuss took my breath away in the role of a sculptor who, as a result of a horrifying car accident, is facing life as a quadriplaegic. Convinced that, if he cannot sculpt, his life is already over, he releases his lover and fights hospital policy and personnel for the right to die. My crush on John Cassavettes was renewed, Christine Lahti made an indelible first impression on me, and Janet Eilber as Pat was very believable. But Richard Dreyfuss is brilliant!"