CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

vincentlynch-moonoi I'm not sure why this film only gets around a "6" rating. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and am giving it a "7".First of all, it has a mostly excellent cast. Hugh Grant is excellent as the young doctor who gets caught up in a conspiracy to use homeless people for experimental unneeded surgery. At first I was bothered by how very young Grant looked; it didn't seem a doctor so young could be advancing so quickly in the field of medicine. However, when you actually look at his real age when the movie was made, it did work.Gene Hackman -- an actor I never really wanted to like -- is as good as he almost always was, this time playing the disturbingly reassuring evil doctor.The one real let down here is Sarah Jessica Parker as a physician who is helping Hackman (due to her brother's spinal injury). I simply do not see the attraction to this ridiculously passive actress.David Morse turns in a strong performance as an FBI Agent also aligned with Hackman, as does Bill Nunn as a similarly aligned police detective.As to the story itself, which takes place in New York City (and uses locations scenes to the film's advantage), it's sorta scary when you think about how medical researchers could misuse their public trust if they get too wrapped up in the cures on which they are working. In this case, it's spinal injuries. The suspense is very real -- and StephenKing-ish -- when Grant descends into the bowels of New York City to find the people who live underground. And then there's a dramatic twist when our good guy becomes paralyzed himself...or does he...and if he is paralyzed, how can be the hero at the film's conclusion? Nope, I disagree with the general consensus. I think this is a very good suspense film and quite believable...at least as much as almost any film.

sophiewessberg In this movie, Hugh Grant proves he can do so much more than romantic comedies. I could easily picture him in one of the hospital shows on TV. Gene Hackman is good too, but David Morse - a personal favorite - is surprisingly stiff and boring. Sarah Jessica Parker isn't even worth mentioning.So what can I say about the plot? Well, the beginning is interesting, and a little spooky. After that a quick cut to the hospital where we reveal the most idiotic name anyone could have ever thought of. I mean, Guy Luthan?? Despite the intriguing plot, it eventually stretches too far and becomes quite ridiculos. And then, as we enter the under ground, my suffering is beyond belief. A very fuzzy climax where David Morse's lack of enthusiasm becomes even more obvious. This movie could have been a lot better if it hadn't made all those mistakes that could have been avoided so easily. Although, it was fun to see Hugh Grant's rom com character peek out in this mildly efficient thriller - which doesn't make his acting worse but adds sympathy to his character and makes him more likable.

James Hitchcock "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

Graham Watson Despite lead actor Hugh Grant still riding high from his sleeper hit FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL and a well publicized arrest for curb crawling in Hollywood the previous year, this was not received well in the theaters. Even with the support from the ever versatile Gene Hackman the movie was a box office flop! It's important to state from the outset that the film itself is pretty good and deserved better than it got, not just from the standard of movies that were around but also because it was well acted and raised some very important moral and medical questions that to some extent are more relative today with the controversy over stem cells than it was ten years ago! As for why the movie bombed I cant really say, perhaps not enough guns, sex and violence or maybe the theme or scenario was very depressing to many people. Also I think that being a thriller, actor George Cloony who was a lead in the popular medical soap ER would have been a better box office draw than Grant. Clooney who was struggling to break into the "A– list" of movie stars at the time would have been believable as a doctor and the movie it self would have elevated him faster up to stardom than the duffers he did at around that time! However, it has to be said this is only as far as being a better box office draw, Cloony of course being American. It has to be said Hugh Grant was very good in this part and I think it was one of his best films. Grant was and still is better known for comedy or a romantic lead not a tough guy roles or action films, so perhaps this is why many in his fan base did not take to his character because it was a thriller not a comedy.Having said that he was very well cast for the part and on many occasions was able to display his dead pan dry wit and came across quite believable as the out of towner Dr. from the UK who didn't know what he was getting into. His character was typical Grant in the USA not aloof and pompous, but just a little awkward, slightly eccentric maybe and disorganized! I think that coming from England only made the character come across as more vulnerable and isolated as events unraveled and things seemed to conspire against him. When the well respected Dr. Myrick (Gene Hackman) decided that Dr. Luthan's (Hugh Grant) meddling was proving to be problematic as well as inconvenient, Luthan's feeling of paranoia towards his colleagues was more believable. No tough guy or macho part was needed here!Grant played Guy Luthan who was deemed for great things in the medical profession is a physician who encounters a distraught and frightened patient who had been found wandering the streets. He is extremely agitated, suffering convulsions and has strange legations at the base of his spine. Despite desperate attempts to save his life the mysterious patent dies. Luthan who is shocked over what he has witnessed is puzzled by a silver bracelet on the wrist which indicates that the patient (Claude Minkins) was probably a hospital patient somewhere and starts to make inquires. He orders blood work and lab analysis despite the fact that patient has no medical insurance (much to the annoyance of his superiors). When he can not find the hospital that used silver a bracelet and is concerned about the bizzar results in the lab report, he then delves further into this case much to the disdain of colleges and top faculty administrators. It appears that the patient was homeless and his medical records wiped and put in storage where he is unable to track them.Then the body mysteriously disappears, the chief residence is very nonchalant about it and berates and scolds Luthan in very dismissive and casual manner over his concern, this only leads him to become more suspicious. Soon he feels that he can't trust anybody as it appears that some are trying to thwart his own investigations. He is correct, ------ some within the hospital as well as outside are trying to frustrate his efforts in unraveling this mystery. Rather than back off, he let's his curiosity get the better off him, puts his professional reputation on the line which only results in disastrous consequences for him personally. Realizing that he is really on to something and now with nothing to lose he becomes even more determined to track down who is responsible for trying to ruin him, ------ but more importantly why?This movie raises medical and moral issues over the balance of patient care and medical advancement. This is not a new topic, the earlier movie COMA and many or medial shows since have dabbled with this dilemma but the ending in this movie leaves that question strangely unanswered? (Interestingly, at the beginning of the movie Luthan has an ethical dilemma of his own. While working in the ER he has to decide who gets the priority for the only OR room available at the time. It's a choice between a wounded Cop and the and the 'perp' who shot him, who incidentally is in a more serious condition. He decides that the cop should get priority)!Hugh Grant was good, so was Hackman and fine support from Sara Jessica -Parker, David Morse and Paul Guilfoyle. I would highly recommend this movie!