Medicine Man [VHS]

A very beautiful love story,superb scenery and story.Sean Connery,and Lorraine Bracco make a perfect team.Jerry Goldsmiths score is lovely to listen to.

After his thrilling trio of Predator, Die Hard and The Hunt for Red October, Medicine Man was a definite change of pace for then red hot director John McTiernan.

Filmed in the tropical rain forests of Central America, the film centres around eccentric biologist Robert Campbell (Connery) who having isolated himself for years, is now on the brink of a major scientific break through. Young specialist Dr Rae Crane (Bracco) arrives with equipment requested by Campbell and to judge whether his funding can be allowed to continue. Meanwhile, road building bulldozers grind their way inexorably into the area threatening Campbell's globally important work.

The central relationship dynamic of Medicine Man is familiar: gruff, stubborn campaigner goes up against the younger maverick type with their initial acrimony developing into grudging respect and beyond. This all works quite well again here and there are a number of amusing moments as Dr Crane struggles to integrate with the strange environment and Campbell's brusqueness.

A lot has been said about whether the two scientists actually end up falling in love and the ending is somewhat ambiguous on that part. If we disregard romantic speculation, the journey the characters do clearly take together is nevertheless a satisfying one and crucial to the lingering sense of escapist entertainment that the film conjures up.

In the end, the story is rather simplistic and the script could have been sharper, perhaps exploring the destruction of the rainforest plotline a little deeper. But the film looks great and a scene in which the two doctors ascend into the forest canopy is especially glorious. Sean Connery is as magnetic a presence as ever, lifting mundane scenes of dialogue up to worthier levels than they deserve to be. But Lorraine Bracco's grating and at times wooden performance comes close to derailing the film altogether.

One other area where the film really scores (if you'll pardon the pun) is the fantastic soundtrack created by Jerry Goldsmith. A wonderful mix of dramatic percussion, soaring dramatic melodies and lighter, chirpy, ethnic influences, it's so effective that it seems to pull you right into the rain forest action alongside the characters.

Although I personally enjoy Medicine Man and have seen it numerous times, it remains frustrating in some ways because you can't help but feel that there was a really great film in there struggling to escape. The lush jungle setting, superb music score and typically charismatic star are very memorable elements in a film which otherwise is simply a solidly entertaining `eco drama'.

A great film, which is really hard to get on Region 2 and because of that people hike up the price. I long for the day this will be at a reasonable price so I can buy it. Great film BUT too expensive!