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Flatliners (1990)

Director: Joel Schumacher

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From Time Out Film Guide

Medical school student Nelson Wright (Sutherland) is so obsessed with research into the near-death experience that he recruits four friends, and they take turns at stopping their hearts until the monitors reading their vital signs indicate nothing but flat lines. Once revived by other members of the team, armed with their new-found knowledge they set about rectifying past misdeeds. Schumacher's aggressive direction sweeps across weird panoramas and dives headlong into terrifying memories. We're in mystical territory here, hence the flamboyant visuals; but that's no excuse for Peter Filardi's affected script, which culminates in Bacon railing against the heavens, fists and feet flying. There's also a sorry lack of restraint from production designer Eugenio Zanetti, whose other-worldly atmosphere reaches its apotheosis in Sutherland's all-white apartment, which contains only one piece of furniture (a bed, of course).

Author: CM 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide


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