Film Medical Theme: Toxicomanie

Any Given Sunday

Language : English

Year : 1999

Medical Theme : Drug Abuse / Alcohol abuse

Actors : Al Pacino, Dennis Quaid, Cameron Diaz, James Woods

Story Line : Coach Tony D’Amato is a successful coach and he has helped his team The Miami Sharks reach great heights for many decades now. But this Year things are not the same, his team is performing poorly and the owners of the team are putting him under a lot of pressure. Tony thinks he is loosing his instincts and the time has come for him to retire from the game. It is under these circumstances coach Tony comes across Willie Beamen, an extraordinary new talent who starts to take his team back to winning ways again. For Tony though, he must now learn to handle Willie, who is very rebellious and who never listens. But as they start to work together, they soon start to learn new things from each other and the collaboration finally becomes a life transformer for the two men.

Almost Famous

Language : English

Year : 2000

Medical Theme : Drug Abuse

Actors : Patrick Fugit, Billy Crudup, Kate Hudson, Francis McDormand

Story Line : Almost Famous is a film about a young rock and roll journalist, William Miller played by Patrick Fugit. William is only fifteen Years old and he is honest and lives in a time when rock and roll was still dominating the music world during the seventies. It is now, The Rolling Stone magazine decides to give young William a chance to do a story on the music band, The Still Waters. William surprisingly manages to become very friendly with the band and travels with them to their live concerts. While on tour, William comes across many interesting people and in the end William is left to choose between his friends and his passion to be a merciless journalist.

Black Swan

Language : English

Year : 2010

Medical Theme : Drug abuse / Schizophrenia

Actors : Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey

Story Line : Black Swan is psychological thriller, directed by Darren Aronofsky. The plot revolves around the production of The Swan Lake ballet by a high profile New York City company. The lead ballerina is required to portray both the innocent White Swan and the sensual Black Swan. Nina (Portman) is identified as perfect for the role of the White Swan but the director Leroy (Cassel) believes that Nina lacks the fluidity which is required to portray the Black Swan. Nina's darker side comes to the fore when she realizes that Lily (Kunis) has a personality that matches the Black Swan and that she might replace her in the lead role. After several bouts with hallucinations and drug abuse, Nina portrays the Black Swan to perfection, receiving a standing ovation from the audience. An intensely passionate drama, Black Swan deserves to be watched.

Blow

Language : English

Year : 2001

Medical Theme : Drug abuse

Actors : Johnny Depp, Jordi Molla, Penolope Cruz, Ray Liotta

Story Line : George is a local drug dealer and Johnny Depp portrays the character in his film Blow. George starts his career by selling small quantities of drugs and then slowly starts to climb up the ladder and starts making big money. George, after he makes his millions, marries a girl and soon becomes a father. But when George is trying to be a good father and is trying to raise his children well, he gets arrested and ends up loosing all his money. In the end George desperately tries to meet his children, but his wife refuses to grant him his wish and he ends dying very lonely.

Donnie Brasco

Language : English

Year : 1997

Medical Theme : Stress disorder / Alcohol abuse

Actors : Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen, Anne Heche

Story Line : Donnie Brasco is an undercover FBI agent, played by Johnny Depp, who befriends Lefty, an underground Mafia gangster, who starts liking Donnie so much that he makes him his partner, without knowing who Donnie really is. During the time Donnie is with Lefty, pretending to be his friend, Donnie is in continuos stress, because he starts to like Lefty and the guilt of betraying him torments him every day. But in the end Donnie makes sure he does his job well, though his guilt will torment him for the rest of his life.

Drugstore cowboy

Language : English

Year : 1988

Medical Theme : Drug addiction

Actors : Matt Dillion, Kelly Lynch, James Remar

Story Line : Bob Hughes is a drug addict and he lives with his wife and another young couple, who are also drug addicts. The four friends, to be able to support their addiction habits steal steal drugs from drugstores across the US. One day one of their friends, a young girl, dies due to over dosage and the incident forces Bob to live a clean life. But his wife refuses to take Bob’s path and she leaves him. The rest of the story is about how Bob struggles to stay away from drugs and lead a decent life.

Hangover

Language : English

Year : 2009

Medical Theme : Drug abuse

Actors : Bradely Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham

Story Line : Hangover is a comedy film that revolves around four friends who goes out to Las Vegas to celebrate one of their gang members bachelors party. The party turns out to be a complete chaos when they wake up the next day not knowing what has happened the previous day, because of the drug that they had taken unknowingly. In the end they somehow manage to reach on time for the wedding where everyone is waiting for their arrival, after seeing a lot of adventure and luck.

Hangover 2

Language : English

Year : 2011

Medical Theme : Drug Abuse

Actors : Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis

Story Line : The three friends have done it again, but this time it is in Bangkok. The adventure though is still as exciting as it was in Las Vegas where the story of the previous Hangover movie was set in. Alan, played by Zach Galifianakis, is in many ways much crazier than what he was in the previous movie and yes; he is the one responsible this time too for all the chaos, because he drudges his friends again. So this time when the friends wake up, they wake up in a small hotel in Bangkok and in the hotel there is also their friend Mr. Chow Chang and from there, the story is all about how they manage to get out of there and reach Stu’s wedding at the right time.

On The Edge

Language : English

Year : 2001

Medical Theme : Psychiatry /Drug Abuse

Actors : Stephen Rea, Cillian Murphy, Jonathan Jackson, Paul Hickey, Tricia Vessey

Story Line : Cillian Murphy is a young man who attempts suicide after the recent death of his dad. When he befriends a young boy and falls in love with another patient at the hospital, Jonathan slowly begins to pull himself together.

Pulp Fiction

Language : English

Year : 1995

Medical Theme : Drug abuse

Actors : John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth

Story Line : Pulp fiction is a black comedy movie and is considered to be Quentin Tarantino’s most acclaimed film. The film deals with different people, living in different places and living different lives and the story is about how finally all these characters in the film are interwoven with each other. The story is set in the midst of the American underworld gangs to a large extent and the film is also loaded with drug abuse instances and stark violence, which has now become a trademark sort of thing for Quentin’s films.

The God Father

Language : English

Year : 1972

Medical Theme : Heart Attack/Drug abuse

Actors : Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall

Story Line : Vito Corleone is the aging don of the corleone Mafia Family. His youngest son Michael has returned from the war just in time for his sister Connie Corleone's wedding. Though the whole family is involved with the Mafia, Michael wants to live a normal life. Drug dealer Virgil Sollozzo is looking for Mafia Families to offer him protection in exchange for a profit of the drug money. The don refuses and gets shot by Sollozzo. The Don barely survives and his son Michael is pushed into a violent mob war against Sollozzo, against his wish.

Training Day

Language : English

Year : 2001

Medical Theme : Drug abuse

Actors : Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Eva Mendes

Story Line : Jake Hoyt, an LAPD cop is to be with Alonzo, an LAPD narcotics officer for a day and prove to him his worth, so he could be promoted. Alonzo surprises Jake with his unconventional methods that he uses while dealing with criminals. At first Jake seems a bit apprehensive, because Alonzo behaves like a criminal himself and not like a police officer while deals with criminals, but Alonzo manages to convince Jake that it is the only way of doing things, taking under consideration the circumstances. Finally Jake realizes that Alonzo was using Jake as a scapegoat to make money for himself and his team and after coming to know this Jake decides to fight back.

The Road To Wellville

Language : English

Year : 1994

Medical Theme : Drug Abuse

Actors : Anthony Hopkins, Matthew Broderick, Bridget Fonda, John Cusack

Story Line : The Road To Wellville is a comedy featuring Matthew Broderick in the role of William, who with his wife goes to spend time in a sanitorium administered by Dr. John Harvey, to get himself cured from his alcohol addiction. While the couple spends their time in the sanitorium, the story starts to take shape and becomes lively after more interesting characters enter the scene. But when the patients in the sanitorium continue to die one by one, Dr. John Harvey is forced to shut down the sanitorium and thus all the drama ends there.

The Wrestler

Language : English

Year : 2008

Medical Theme : Drug Abuse

Actors : Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood

Story Line : Randy “The Ram” Robinson is an old wrestler who was once very popular when he was young. Randy after a point becomes very depressed in life when he sees his career heading towards an inevitable end. Then he realizes there is no one to love him, after his daughter and his lover, both refuses to accept him. So deeply annoyed, Randy decides to take part in a much-hyped wrestling match, refusing to take into consideration the concerns of his doctors. He starts to train hard and takes many steroids to escape from the pain and gives his everything to his faithful fans in his last fight.

The Fighter

Language : English

Year : 2010

Medical Theme : Drug Abuse

Actors : Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Mellisa Leo, Amy Adams

Story Line : Micky Ward is a professional boxer, who is coached by his brother Dicky Eklund, a retired boxer. Micky is not very successful in his boxing career and he is even referred to as ‘stepping stone’ mockingly, because fighters use him to get title shots. Micky then falls in love with Alice, tough woman who identifies potential in Micky and so she tries to manage things properly for Micky and while doing so, she enters into conflict with Dicky and his mother. As a result there is chaos in the family and the rest of the film is about how Micky manages to strike the right balance between his own family and his wife, because deep inside Micky knows that no one can train him as good as his brother Dicky.

This Is It

Language : English

Year : 2009

Medical Theme : Drug abuse

Actors : Michael Jackson, Kenny Ortega

Story Line : This Is It is a documentary that is made entirely by putting together the rehearsal video clippings of Michael Jackson’s famous This Is It world tour that unfortunately had to be canceled after he died tragically due to drug overdose. The rehearsal videos were actually shot on Michael’s request and its initial purpose was to become a part of the singer’s personal collections. But after Michael died, the producers, with the director’s approval decided to make the videos public through a documentary film and the plan later materialized into a film, that was worth more than sixty million dollars and was released all over the world. The documentary is also a concert film and Michael Jackson performs the songs in the same order, as he was supposed to have performed if the actual shows had really taken place in the O2 arena in front of his loyal fans in London.

In the film, Michael Jackson is seen in good health and throughout the long rehearsals his energy level is also quite high, taking into consideration the fact that he is only just rehearsing. We see a man who is in control of the whole concert and who is inspiring his young team as much an artist could possibly do. He performs on stage some of his greatest hit numbers like Billie Jean, Smooth Criminal, Beat It and many more. Michael performs almost all his usual trademark moves and makes us forget the fact that he is fifty and when he does the moonwalk he simply sets the stage on fire like he does usually and wins the applause of the whole crew that is witnessing the grand historical spectacle.

Performing on stage at fifty, the documentary to be honest only shows a man who is just half as good as the young Michael Jackson we all had know and have seen mesmerizes the world when he is on stage. But still, the film’s real worth lies in its historical importance and in the chance it offers its viewers, to see for fist hand a genius working behind stage and how he does his magic. This Is It in that sense is a truly remarkable film and it also shows how Michael is just as normal and down to earth like any other normal person. The film is a fitting tribute to an extraordinary singer, who has survived tough times through sheer talent and through his genius and the film like Michael says in it, is “all for love-L.O.V.E” and nothing less.

Michael Jackson for almost thirty Years entertained the world like no other artist ever did or could even imagine doing and achieved everything a musician could possibly achieve. But even for a man of such great stature, death was impossible to evade and Michael Jackson had to die one of the most tragic of deaths the world has ever seen. But being a great man, his achievements are still soaring in death, as it did when he was alive and kicking. The documentary-concert film, This Is It is just another example for the success Michael Jackson is enjoying posthumously and it is also strong evidence for the fact that the singer has left behind a very long legacy that will amaze people in the coming Years and for many more generations to come.

The Beach

Language : English

Year : 2000

Medical Theme : Stress/ drug abuse

Actors : Leonardo DiCaprio, Virginie Ledoyen, Guillaume Canet

Story Line : In the movie The Beach, DiCaprio plays the role of Richard, a lone traveler from America who has come to Indonesia for vacation. In Indonesia Richard comes across a strange person who gives Richard a map that shows the way to a small-unknown island where he could live a carefree life and get drugs for free. On the way Richard meets a French couple and he decides to take them too along with him, to find the secret island on an adventure filled journey.

Half Nelson

Language : English

Year : 2006

Medical Theme : Drug Abuse

Actors : Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps, Jeff Lima, Nathan Corbett

Story Line : Dan Dunne, a teacher spends most of his time nursing hangovers, when one of his students teaches him a life-changing lesson.

Wild Weed

Language : English

Year : 1949

Medical Theme : Drug Addiction

Actors : Alan Baxter, Lila Leeds, David Holt

Story Line : A Chorus girl's career is ruined and her brother is driven to suicide when she starts smoking Marijuana.

Things We Lost In The Fire

Language : English

Year : 2007

Medical Theme : Drug addiction

Actors : Halle Berry, Benicio Del Toror, David Duchovny

Story Line : Things We Lost In Fire is a drama film that centers around Jerry Sunborne and his addiction to heroin. Audrey Burke’s husband is a very close friend of Jerry and after her husband’s death; she invites Jerry to live with her and her two children. The relationship between Audrey and Jerry is very complex and it is now, Jerry is trying to live a clean life by staying away from heroin. But as time passes Audrey starts to become more depressed and irritable and after a point it becomes impossible for Jerry to be with her. One day Audrey finds Jerry has left her and her children and the film ends with a positive note, by assuring audience that Jerry would live a respectable life.

The Departed

Language : English

Year : 2006

Medical Theme : Drug Addiction/Psychosis

Actors : Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson

Story Line : The story revolves around a rivalry between the Massachusetts state Police and an Irish- American gang. A gangster is chosen to infiltrate the state police while a young police officer is chosen to infiltrate the gang. When their paths cross, what will be the result? Rest of the story deals with that.

Little Fish

Language : English

Year : 2005

Medical Theme : Drug Addiction/Insanity

Actors : Cate Blanchett, Sam Neill, Martin Henderson

Story Line : Set in the Little Saigon district outside of Sydney, a woman trying to escape her past, becomes embroiled in a drug deal.When Racy Heart needs forty thousand dollars as loan to buy a shop, the banks deny her the loan, based on her past drug addiction. Her boyfriend returns and once again she's dragged into drug trade.

Dream with the Fishes

Language : English

Year : 1997

Medical Theme : Suicide/Drug Addiction

Actors : J.E.Freeman, David Arquette, Brad Hunt, Kathryn Erbe

Story Line : Nick has learned that he has only a few weeks to live, so he makes a deal with Terry. Terry is Nick's neighbor and a suicidal voyeur. Once Nick stops Terry from committing suicide. Fearing lack of time, Nick offers Terry a deal he can't refuse. He offers to kill Terry and all he asks in return is to help him realize a few fantasies before dying.

Pollock

Language : English

Year : 2001

Medical Theme : Addiction

Actors : Ed Harris, Marcia Gay Harden, Tom Bower, Jennifer Connelly, Bud Cort, John Heard, Val Kilmer, Robert Knott, David Leary, Amy Madigan, Sally Murphy, Molly Regan, Stephanie Seymour, Matthew Sussman, Jeffrey Tambor

Story Line : An abstract expressionist Jackson Pollocks featured in Life magazine at the end of the 1940's. Back in the Year 1941, Pollock lived with his brother in a tiny apartment in New York. He drank a lot and exhibited an occasional painting in group shows. He soon meets an artist Lee Krasner, who puts her career on hold to be his companion, lover, champion, wife, and, in essence, caretaker. They soon go to Hampton where nature and sobriety help Pollock achieve a breakthrough in style and critical praises and also to get him off booze, insecurity, and stress of city life. Life Magazine calls but so did the demons.