Pathology (2008)

Loaded Splice

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

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The extremely talented Ted Gray (Milo Ventimiglia) is engaged to the beautiful Gwen (Alyssa Milano) and has become the newest member of a prestigious pathology program. As soon as he meets the arrogant Jake Gallo (Michael Weston), sparks fly. They begin trying to outguess each other as to the causes of death on the program's mysterious corpses. Ted soon learns that Jake is the leader of a kind of secret club (having to do with death), and Jake in turn begins to feel that Ted has the stuff to join them. Of course, these types of clubs usually get out of hand. Ted also joins the others in smoking crack and indulging in other forms of debauchery. The trouble is that, unlike David Cronenberg's vaguely similar Crash (1996), director Marc Schoelermann never connects the sex and drugs with the murders. They're just something to pass the time in-between. You'd think these smart kids who rationalize everything would at least justify their excessive behavior in connection with their "game," but these chatty geniuses -- who never shut up -- never even broach the subject. Not that they behave like real people anyway. It's as if Schoelermann and screenwriters Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (the guys behind Crank) had more of a concept than a concrete idea. Schoelermann loves showing sliced-open corpses and bloodied surgical knives, but he doesn't seem to care much about who these people are, either alive or dead.

Starring: Milo Ventimiglia, Michael Weston, Alyssa Milano, Lauren Lee Smith, Johnny Whitworth, John de Lancie, Mei Melançon, Keir O'Donnell, Buddy Lewis, Dan Callahan, Larry Drake, Alan Blumenfeld
Written by: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor
Directed by: Marc Schoelermann
MPAA Rating: R for disturbing and perverse behavior throughout, including violence, gruesome images, strong sexual content, nudity, drug use and language
Running Time: 93 minutes
Date: April 18, 2008