Fox Movie Channel

Being Smart and Attractive and Having A Dream is the Best

Not every movie on Fox Movie Channel features Technicolor murder, courtroom showdowns or crazies on the loose. I think a break from psycho murderers may be in order. A break that takes us to a time a little closer to our own: a time with pocket calculators and imported cars and liberated women. And into a story that involves hot young doctors in California in the early 90s trying to make it all work in life, love, and medicine. Meet a little story called Vital Signs.

Vital Signs is basically a fun romp of a movie. Watch as good looking young people have sex and struggle with their relationships and career aspirations! Sure, there are some overly melodramatic lines. (Like this one: "Look, Donald, you are a terrific surgeon. But what I need right now is someone who cares about the way I feel!" I didn't make that up.) There's also some cartoonish humor, a synthesized score to bang us over the head with what we ought to be feeling, and a Daddy Issues storyline. But in its defense, there are a few moments that are delightful or amusing or at least diverting. Being young and smart and good looking and chasing a dream - man, that's the way to be.

I'm not going to lie, this movie feels a lot like TV. Lots of TV actors - try to count, I dare you - trying to fill the big screen. Lots of little stories and little relationship developments adding up to 103 minutes of movie.  Also, someone on the production bought a steam machine and then someone else made sure it got used more than once. Have you ever had an intense conversation about your life with someone you want to sleep with some steam jetting behind you? Or had athletic sex in a hospital laundry room that has unlikely purple mood lightning? Like I said, diverting.

After having watched this movie a few too many times, I am curious about a few things. Why did fearless, smart, and attractive lead surgeon Jimmy Smits fly to New York, just when he's most needed? What was going on there? And who was he doing? He's basically the only character who's sex life is not explored, and that omission plus my general interest in his hotness makes me curious what he's up to and who he's into. But I guess if I knew everything about every character, this movie might officially transform into a TV show.

In the end, we learn that there is nothing like an ER full of burn victims to bring doctors together. But seriously, haven't we always known that to be true? And beyond even that, we discover that it is possible for the best looking doctor and the second best looking doctor - who are in a smartness competition - to work it out. People wind up happy. It's all so tidy when you are young and smart and good looking and have a dream.

Ah, the early 90s: I could write a whole exploration of the clothing alone in this movie. Light wash jeans. Diane Lane's shoulder pads. That horrible multi-color sweater Laura San Giacomo wears when she's sharing important emotions with her husband. The fact that Adrian Pasdar's jeans are too high and his shirts are too tight. Now I'm willing to admit that he is a cute dude. But the outfit he wears in the very last scene of Vital Signs is unforgivable. You might want to watch the whole movie just to see it. Until you do, I'll leave you with a few choice last words: Exposed. Man. Midriff.