Medicine has always been one of the most desirable professions since people
began accumulating into groups. In tribal cultures, the medicine man held a
degree of power and authority that approached the status of the chieftain. Then
as heal depended on less on the knowledge of herbs and intercession with the
gods and more on science, the position remained of paramount importance to the
community. Being a doctor is a noble calling that also is quite lucrative and
perennially at the apex of a mother’s first choice for a son-in-law. From an
artistic standpoint, the doctor is among the most popular choices for a
protagonist in all forms of entertainment particularly film and television.
Typically, a man of medicine reflects society’s growing appreciation of the
physician, but the independent filmmaker has the potential to explore the human
being behind the calling. In the film ‘The Good Doctor,' the focus is centered
on a young man in training to ascend to the coveted ‘M.D’ following his name.
The film examines the inordinate degree of professional pressure and emotional
strain that is inherent in garnering the degree necessary for the practice of
medicine. Some people submit to the tendency to elevate doctors above the common
throng, perhaps a holdover from the medicine/high priest origins when the healer
was the conduit to the supernatural. ‘The Good Doctor’ provides the audience
with a dramatic reminder that the physician is still a human being, a mortal man
subject to the same desires, temptations and foibles as the rest of us. While
the vast majority of doctors conduct themselves by the sacred trust afforded to
them some are overwhelmed by the intimacy that is intrinsically part of their
work. This film is another example of the independent movie’s ability to
concentrate on the smaller story as far as the scope goes. It will probably not
appeal to a large, mainstream audience clamoring for fast pace action. This is
an emotionally driven story that dissects the inner workings of a medical
student struggling to hold his desires in check as he prepares to accept the
full responsibility of being a good doctor.
Martin Blake (Orlando Bloom) has just completed his medical school training,
but before that shiny new degree, he has to go through the next phase of his
education, residency. This is the hands-on part of his training, an
apprenticeship where he accumulates the practical application of his new found
knowledge. As is frequently the case Martin had to relocate to assume this
position is moving to a hospital in Southern California. Superficially Martin
has every advantage a young man could want. He is attractive and exceptionally
charismatic, but ultimately he is insecure, a person that manifests but
arrogance and need to lord his authority over others. This may have served him
better in academia but in a real hospital setting the socio-political foundation
was drastically different, and Martin was more like to alienate patients, peers,
and superiors than charm them. The event that gives this story its impetus was a
patient Martin encountered. Diane Nixon (Riley Keough) is a beautiful
18-year-old admitted for a kidney infection. She responds well to Martin giving
his currently battered ego a much-needed boost. His infatuation with the young
woman gains a component of desperation as she responds to the treatment moving
closer to the point of being released. This is where person need and the
Hippocratic Oath and Martin’s need to sustain his all-important self-esteem.
Martin submits to his self-centered core persona and decides to keep Diane under
his care.To achieve this selfish goal Martin does the unthinkable; he
manipulates his beautiful patient’s treatment to prolong her stay. There are
many cases of people manipulating medical treatment. Some doctors and nurses
purposely bring hapless patients to the verge of the dead only to gain heroic
stature by saving them; others fake symptoms to themselves or others to feed
their addiction to the attention. Martin’s case might be different in
motivation, but the fact that he is deleteriously modifying a patient’s
treatment is illegal and inherently immoral as a betrayal of trust.
The plot device that Martin and Diane have formed a romantic bond does not
excuse, the behavior, rather it actually, exasperates the situation. He is not
only betraying the doctor-patient relationship he has undermined the love of a
vulnerable girl by manipulating her feelings to his selfish benefit. Yes, he
might have genuine feelings for Diane, but that only makes his purposeful
inherence of her care increasingly heinous. With any case of betrayal and
deception, the perpetrator is exceptionally susceptible to being discovered. His
actions take a drastic plunge when Diane succumbs to the infection and dies.
Martin didn’t realize young women are prone to document their emotional life and
relationships. Diane kept a diary detailing her ‘romance’ with the handsome
doctor. He not only was an older man, unlike the boys in her school, but he was
also the ultimate catch, a physician. The journal, discovered by an orderly,
Jimmy (Michael Peña), who hatches a plot of his own. He blackmails Martin into
providing a regular supply of drugs in return for his silence. This pushes the
doctor into a quagmire of desperation; he places the drugs with a lethal,
undetectable substance killing Jimmy. This finally brings the police to the
hospital.
The difficulty fundamentally found in a story like this is the underlying
unlikeable traits exhibited by the central character. The writer of the
screenplay by John Enbom does a good job of ameliorating the effect by giving
Martin some positive qualities such as intelligence and drive that are
misdirected by circumstances he mishandled. This is a first feature length
script for Enbom whose prior experience included dramatic television series like
‘Veronica Mars’ and a few episodes of the Sci-Fi cult classic, ‘’Terminator: The
Sarah Connor Chronicles.' Also, Enbom gathered some off-beat humorous acumen
writing for ‘Party Down.' There might have been some benefit had by expanding
the introduction to elaborate on those qualities to lighten the horrible actions
made by Martin. He was ruined by a cascading series of bad decisions, but
ultimately Enbom avoids the cheap ploy of play the story in an apologetic
fashion. Martin is acutely aware of his nature and the path it has taken him
down. The director, Lance Daly has a few other movies unfed his belt and is
carefully working on establishing himself in his profession. His eye for framing
a scene is impeccable surrounding the characters with a setting that firmly
works to create the context and circumstances. He paces the movie well although
the same caveat applied to the script is -applicable in this aspect of the
production. The character of Martin required a greater foundation and further
elaboration to pull the story better together. It is helpful that Bloom is adept
at playing a complicated role in the economy. The movie is gripping and deserves
attention.