Search - Checking Out on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Nudity, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Language Movie Release: 1989 DVD Release: 12/02/2003 Format: DVD - Pan and Scan - Closed Captioned Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 35 mins Studio: MGM Members Wishing: 0 Genres: Comedy Drama, Black Comedy

Jeff Daniels stars in this tedious situation comedy concerning the middle-aged terror of illness and mortality. Scripted by Joe Eszterhas, Daniels plays Southern Californian Ray Macklin, who thinks he will live forever but realizes the fallacy of his idea when his best friend drops dead in front of him after issuing the set-up to the old joke, "Why don't Italians like barbecues?" (Which begs the question, "Why can't Joe Eszterhas write funny scripts?" The answer: "He did. Showgirls.") Anyway, after that shock trauma, Macklin becomes convinced that he is set to suffer the same fate and, as a result, becomes a raving hypochondriac. As Macklin continually clutches his chest and checks his heart monitor, he sinks himself deeper and deeper into the mindset that he is doomed, even though his tests turn out fine. All of this comes to a head in a bizarre dream sequence in which Macklin imagines Heaven as a Hawaiian resort populated by extras from a Federico Fellini picture. At that point, he wills himself to return to consciousness after surgery to remove his appendix. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Jeff Daniels - Ray Macklin
Melanie Mayron - Jenny Macklin
Michael Tucker - Harry Lardener
Kathleen York - Diana
Allan Havey - Pat Hagen