Dying Young DVD > Reviews > A reason to live

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Indifferent to it
Story	Satisfactory
Characters / Performances	Satisfactory
Special Effects	Unmemorable
How does it compare to similar films?	Satisfactory

Advantages:	Julia Roberts, Campbell Scott
Disadvantages:	Very slow and lacking depth

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Synopsis
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After returning home early and discovering her boyfriend in bed with another woman, Hilary O'Neil's life is turned upside down. Looking for a fresh start, she spots a job ad in a newspaper for a "young and attractive woman with some nursing experience" and as the job is in a very rich part of San Francisco, she decides to go for the job, even though she has no nursing skills and doesn't really know what it entails.

Although unqualified, Hilary gets the job of caring for Victor Geddes, a young man who has been suffering from Leukaemia for the most part of his life and needs someone to care for him as he goes through his latest batch of chemotherapy. As the side effects of the chemotherapy ravish Victor's body, Hilary struggles with his illness and nearly gives up, but decides to stay and do the best job she possibly can. But as Victor starts to feel better after finishing the therapy, they realise that they both have feelings for each other, greater than just that of caring.

Opinion
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Even top actors and actresses can star in some pretty duff films, and sadly "Dying Young" happens to be one of Julia Roberts. To be honest it is not a bad film, but when you compare it to so many of her other movies, it just doesn't come up to scratch. The biggest issue is that the film is overlong, and very slow going which really mars how good it is.

● The Story

The story line is very simple and really has only one main thread, that of the romantic relationship between Hilary and Victor. The main focus of this is the fact that each of them comes from different sides of the track. Hilary, although not poor, has worked for everything she has and enjoys the fun side of living, such as clubbing and smoking. Where as Victor has had a very privileged upbringing where money has never been an issue and appreciates the finer things of life, such as fine art and the classics. With this being the main thread of the film, some people have compared this to Miss Roberts previous hit "Pretty Woman", but in reality this is an unfair comparison, due to the nature of "Dying Young" is a much more serious movie.

There are other minor threads, which revolve around Victor's relationship with his parents, as well as Hilary's relationships with friends from the local community, but in reality these are only there as padding for the main storyline and add little relevance to the main thread.

As with any film which follows the relationships of people from different sides of the track it becomes very predictable and as the film progresses you can pretty much guess when the next rise and peak in their relationship will appear. This is not really a criticism as it is very rare to find a film with this setup following any other route.

My biggest criticism of the story is that it never seems to get going. It ambles a long on a slow pleasant journey but never really picks up any pace. This is mainly due to a lack of any real depth in any of the threads, whether major or minor. For example, the affects of the chemotherapy on Victor are never really focussed on for more than a second or two and so the film never feels like it is truly there.

● Characters and Cast

The film focuses on two characters, that of Hilary O'Neil, played by Julia Roberts, and Victor Geddes, played by Campbell Scott. Although both of the performances are good, there seems to be something missing. Both Roberts and Scott play the parts very well, and work very well together on screen, but there seems to be a real lack of meaning behind the words and emotions. It honestly feels like at times they were just going through the motions to pick up their pay cheques. Maybe this was due more to the fact that the script never goes deep enough for them to use their talents to play in depth characters, but for whatever reason, it really lets the film down.

It is a sad fact that some of the best parts of the film revolve around the character of Hilary dancing in a night club in a sequinned bra and the scene where she spreads mayonnaise on her hair as a conditioner.

● Direction

Other than the lack of a decent script, I believe the majority of this films problems lie with its direction, which is surprise as this film comes from the directional hands of Joel Schumacher who previously directed the fabulous "Flatliners". The biggest issue with the direction is the lack of pace and I personally feel that if this film had been cut by 20 minutes, the pace of the film would have been far better, with numerous unnecessary scenes left on the cutting room floor. On top of this is the lack of any real meaning behind the actor's performances, which I blame Schumacher again for as he seems to have given up with them. This actually leads me to believe that maybe he was forced in to making this movie by the company executives and so just went through the motions as he wasn't overly impressed with the script.

On a more positive note, some of his choice of shots and the composing of scenes is truly brilliant with great use of natural light and shade to convey the mood of certain scenes.

● Sound track

The soundtrack, although very pleasant is just like the film, very slow and leisurely. There is a huge use of gentle string and piano pieces to accompany each scene, but it never really changes pace anywhere or even gets louder. The only noticeable time the soundtrack really changed was a scene in a nightclub with some cheesy 90s dance music.

Summary
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You may feel from all the criticism that I have of the film that I don't like it, but in reality I do. Although it has far to many flaws to be a great film, it is still an enjoyable film to watch even if it is a bit slow and monotonous. Maybe I am just a glutton for punishment and enjoy Julia Roberts dancing around in a bra, but the film does have some charm and at times does pull on your heart strings. I am sure if they had cut some of the unnecessary, over long scenes and cut the film down to around 90 minutes the film would have been greatly improved, but sadly they didn't. As one of Julia Roberts films I would rate right down, but at least it did introduce me to the acting skills of Campbell Scott, who although has never made it as a big Hollywood actor has gone on to make some pretty decent films.

The big question is would I recommend this film. In all reality I wouldn't, as I feel that for the majority of viewers would become fed up by its flaws. But for anyone who is a fan of Julia Roberts, or like slow meandering love stories then this is a must for you.

Price & Availability
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Amazon.co.uk: £5.97
Play.com: £6.99

Technical Details
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Certificate: 15
Duration: 114 mins
Year of Release: 1991
Genre: Drama, Romance

Director(s): Joel Schumacher
Producer(s): Sally Field
Writer(s): Marti Leimbach (Novel), Richard Friedenberg (screenplay)

Cast: Julia Roberts, Campbell Scott, Vincent D'Onofrio, Colleen Dewhurst, David Selby, Ellen Burstyn, Dion Anderson

© Christianfilmcritic June 2006