Gray’s Anatomy: Steven Soderbergh

You wouldn't think that listening to one person talk for 80 minutes would make for good cinema. I mean, there have been great movies like My Dinner with Andre (1981) that have literally been nothing but talking. But at least My Dinner with Andre had two characters having a dialogue. With the exception of some brief interviews with random people interspersed throughout the film (cumulatively they can't take up more than 15 or so minutes), Steven Soderbergh's Gray's Anatomy is just famed monologist Spalding Gray recounting the time that he was diagnosed with an eye condition known as a "macular pucker." And yet, I sat completely enthralled throughout the entire movie. He guides us through several different alternative medical treatments that he attempted before going in for an eye surgery: Christian Science, Native American sweat lodges, and even a radical, all raw vegetable diet. The stories may seem far-fetched, but Gray delivers them with such conviction, passion, and intensity that we can't help but believe in their authenticity. What was your favorite part? Mine was when he talked about watching a whole conga line of Japanese tourists get treated by a psychic surgeon. But much credit must also go to Soderbergh who manages to keep the film visually fresh with a multitude of bizarre sets, lights, and camera tricks. Monologuing is a stationary activity more suited for the stage than for celluloid. Yet Soderbergh manages to inject a sense of movement into the film without drawing too much attention away from where it matters.

8/10