Before Medine Man, I didn't think of director John McTiernan, as someone who would put a "message" into his films. After all Die Hard, Predator, and The Thomas Crown Affair remake, are not exactly known as "thinking people" movies. I am an admirer of his action work very much and like Connery too. I was impressed with the way Medicine Man was able to combine enough action and message without going overboard in either direction.
Totally removing himself from modern society, Dr Robert Campbell (Connery), has become a Medicine Man to the people of the Amazonian village, in which he now calls home. Thanks to an unforeseen mishap, Campbell has discovered that the cure for cancer can be derived from a chemical found in a Brazilian flower. Dr. Rae Crane (Lorraine Bracco), a fellow scientist from the states, tracks down the elusive Campbell in an effort to monitor his progress. The two doctors are practically at odds from the moment they meet. When a villager becomes sick, Campbell wants to use only remaining bit of cancer curing serum, to save the native's life. Rae isn't sure if that's a good idea. As if battling each other, weren't enough, the doctors find themselves having to also deal with a group of loggers who pose a danger to the village and to the cancer cure.
Shot in Mexico and Brazil, director McTiernan delivers the goods and the theme of conservation is delivered but not on a soapbox using a bullhorn. Also gone is the gore from McTiernan's other films, but the action is exciting to watch just the same. The sparks and chemistry between Connery and Bracco are intense. They are evenly matched in the film. Campbell is as memorable a character for Connery to play, as his turn as Malone was, in The Untouchables. Mention must also be made of composer Jerry Goldsmith's very fitting score to the film and how it adds flavor to the mix.
Medicine Man deserves to have a special edition DVD release. The bonus material is, to say the least, lacking. Aside from the forgone theatrical trailer, the disc also has an EPK style, and all too brief production featurette. Unfortunately, the featurette is even less interesting than watching paint dry.
Recommended until a better version comes along.
