Coma (1978)
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79% of critics liked it
(24 reviews) -
57% of users liked it
(7,373 ratings)
A feisty, feminist intern uncovers a medical conspiracy in this icy thriller about mysterious goings-on at Boston Memorial Hospital. When her best friend and aerobics partner, Nancy Greenly (Lois Chiles), emerges in a vegetative state from a routine abortion, Dr. Susan Wheeler (Genevieve Bujold)… More A feisty, feminist intern uncovers a medical conspiracy in this icy thriller about mysterious goings-on at Boston Memorial Hospital. When her best friend and aerobics partner, Nancy Greenly (Lois Chiles), emerges in a vegetative state from a routine abortion, Dr. Susan Wheeler (Genevieve Bujold) does some digging and discovers an overabundance of anesthesia-induced comas among otherwise healthy young patients. The male authority figures who challenge Susan's technically illegal tampering with medical records include her boss, Dr. Harris (Richard Widmark); the chief anesthesiologist, Dr. George (Rip Torn); and even her boyfriend, Dr. Mark Bellows (Michael Douglas), who doesn't want Susan's shenanigans to get in the way of his shot at chief resident. As Susan continues her crusade, the paper trail leads to the Jefferson Institute, a mysterious, experimental facility in which vegetative patients are stored en masse, suspended from the ceiling by wires threaded through their long bones, in order to reduce the cost of long-term care. A shadowy assailant begins to stalk Susan just as she uncovers the link between the Jefferson Institute and the comas at Boston Memorial, setting the stage for climactic suspense scenes involving morgues, malpractice and endless institutional corridors. Writer/director Michael Crichton adapted his second feature film from Robin Cook's bestseller of the same name. Tom Selleck, who would star in Crichton's Runaway several years later, appears briefly in Coma as another victim of lethal anesthesia. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- Directed By
- Michael Crichton
- Written By
- Michael Crichton
- Genres
- Mystery & Suspense, Action & Adventure
- In Theaters
- Jan 6, 1978 Wide
- Studio
- WARNER BROTHERS PICTURES
Critic Reviews
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Variety Staff, Variety
Coma is an extremely entertaining suspense drama in the Hitchcock tradition.
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Geoff Andrew, Time Out
See it and worry.
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Vincent Canby, New York Times
The aftereffect of Coma is a catlike yawn, benign and bored.
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Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Michael Crichton's slow-paced thriller must have begun with something to say about the morality of the medical profession, but whatever it was is lost in the shuffle of unnecessary narrative detail.
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Matt Brunson, Creative Loafing
The boys'-club politics at the hospital provide the picture with interesting subtext right in line with the sexual dynamics of the period; Bujold proves to be a worthy champion for the feminist cause.
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Cast
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Geneviève Bujold
as Dr. Susan Wheeler
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Michael Douglas
as Dr. Mark Bellows
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Elizabeth Ashley
as Mrs. Emerson
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Rip Torn
as Dr. George
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Richard Widmark
as Dr. Harris
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Lance Le Gault
as Vince
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Lois Chiles
as Nancy Greenly
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Hari
as Dr. Morelind
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Gary Barton
as Computer Technician
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Frank Downing
as Kelly
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Richard Doyle
as Jim
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Alan Haufrect
as Dr. Marcus
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Michael MacRae
as Chief Resident
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Betty McGuire
as Nurse
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Tom Selleck
as Sean Murphy
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Charles Siebert
as Dr. Goodman
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William Wintersole
as Lab Technician
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Ernest Anderson
as First Doctor
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Harry Basch
as Second Doctor
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Joe Bratcher
as Surgical Resident
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Kay Cole
as Sally
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Maury Cooper
as Doctor
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Sarina C. Grant
as Woman in Elevator
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Ed Harris
as Pathology Resident #2
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David Hollander
as Jimmy
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Joanna Kerns
as Diane
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David McKnight
as Man in Elevator
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Roger Newman
as Surgical Resident
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Joni Palmer
as Dance Instructor
- Don Torres
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Lois Walden
as Nurse
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Benny Rubin
as Mr. Schwartz
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Martin Speer
as Surgical Resident
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Dick Balduzzi
as First Maintenance Man
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Gary Bisig
as Second Maintenance Man
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Gerald Berns
as Security Guard
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Duane Tucker
as First Man in Shower
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Michael Lally
as Security Man
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Paul Ryan
as First Technician
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Robert Burton
as Pathology Resident #1
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Amentha Dymally
as Nurse
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Wyatt Johnson
as Second Cop
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Kurt Andon
as First Cop
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Gerald Benston
as Anesthetist
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Tom Borut
as Dr. Cowans
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Philip G. Brooks
as Dr. Richards
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Sue Bugden
as Nurse
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Paul Davidson
as Surgical Resident
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Sharron Frame
as Nurse
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Edward C. Higgins
as Security guard #2
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Del Hinkley
as Second Man in Shower
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Susie Luner
as Nurse
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John Widlock
as Norman
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Michael Mann
as Second Technician
