 | MOVIE #1,680 • 🍿🍿🍿🍿 • 05.30.24 This was a decent enough pot boiler, but holy shit it goes off the rails in the final act (I don’t want to oversell the first ⅔’s either, though). The film — which, allegedly, was so butchered in post-production that director Blake Edwards satirized the experience in his ‘81 picture S.O.B. — does feature our man Hong in a very important role: he plays a doctor who does illegal abortions on the side (for ethical reasons, not for profit) and becomes the main suspect in a teen girl’s homicide. I’m not sure what exactly was cut out and if it would have made much of a difference. The climax is so confusing — introducing multiple new characters at the 11th hour — that I suspect it probably would’ve. Not that I really wanted to spend any more time with James Coburn’s ‘doctor playing renegade tough guy detective’ act, which wore thin quickly. Anyway, here’s some Hong… |
(That dialogue is very funny because Coburn says he is against breaking the law and then pretty much goes on to break the law constantly for the remainder of the movie — including pretending to be a lawyer just to visit Hong in prison in the first place.)
It’s rare to see Hong in such a meaty role, especially from this era of his career so it’s a shame the movie isn’t better. I don’t go deep with Coburn but this is just a lazy performance, rushing through lines right and left.
Edwards is an interesting director whose work I have not explored enough to really comment on one way or the other. In fact, among his vast filmography, I might have watched his two worst movies (this and the obnoxious 1989 comedy, Skin Deep). He also seems to treat female characters like objects, man. Jennifer O'Neill couldn't have less to do with her 'co-lead' role. The movie looks pretty good, though...
CHRONOLOGICALLY
⫷ MOVIE #1,679 - (YOU ARE HERE) - MOVIE #1,681 ⫸
⫷ MOVIE #1,679 - (YOU ARE HERE) - MOVIE #1,681 ⫸
The Carey Treatment is a 1972 American crime thriller film directed by Blake Edwards and starring James Coburn, Jennifer O'Neill, Dan O'Herlihy and Pat Hingle. The film was based on the 1968 novel A Case of Need credited to Jeffery Hudson, a pseudonym for Michael Crichton. It was released on March 29, 1972.
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