Playing God (1997 film)

For the 2012 documentary, see Playing God (2012 film).

Playing God
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Andy Wilson
Written by	Mark Haskell Smith
Produced by	Marc Abraham Laura Bickford Thomas Bliss
Starring	David Duchovny Timothy Hutton Angelina Jolie
Cinematography	Anthony B. Richmond
Edited by	Louise Rubacky
Music by	Richard Hartley
Production companies	Touchstone Pictures Beacon Pictures
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures Distribution (USA and United Kingdom) MDP Worldwide (Overseas)
Release date	October 17, 1997 (1997-10-17)
Running time	94 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$12,000,000
Box office	$4,166,918

Playing God is a 1997 American dramatic crime thriller film directed by Andy Wilson and written by Mark Haskell Smith. It stars David Duchovny (in his first starring role after achieving success with The X-Files), Timothy Hutton, and Angelina Jolie.

Plot

Eugene Sands, a surgeon has his medical license revoked after operating under the influence of amphetamines and opiates. A crime lord named Raymond Blossom happens upon him in a bar where Sands saves someone's life with an emergency procedure to inflate a collapsed lung. Blossom hires Sands as his personal physician, patching up his accomplices when they cannot go to a hospital, and tending to the crime boss and his girlfriend, Claire. In the final act of the film, Claire and Sands become involved, and he must face up to conflicting loyalties to Blossom, Claire, and the FBI agent who has blackmailed him into being an informant.

Cast

• David Duchovny as Dr. Eugene Sands
• Timothy Hutton as Raymond Blossom
• Angelina Jolie as Claire
• Michael Massee as Gage
• Peter Stormare as Vladimir
• Andrew Tiernan as Cyril
• Gary Dourdan as Yates
• John Hawkes as Flick
• Will Stewart as Perry
• Philip Moon as Casey
• Pavel D. Lynchnikoff as Andrei
• Tracey Walter as Jim
• Sandra Kinder as Sue
• Bill Rosier as Jerry
• Keone Young as Mr. Ksi
• Stella Garcia as South African Businesswoman

Production

Its release was delayed due to initial negative reactions from test audiences. The film's trailer contained a brief glimpse of a sex scene between Duchovny and Jolie. The actress later confirmed that she had filmed two sex scenes for the movie, but were edited out of the final cut.

Music

The song "Spybreak!" by Propellerheads was used in this film two years before its stardom debut as the main song of the blockbuster movie The Matrix (1999).

Reception

The film did not fare well financially or with critics, scoring just a 16% at the review site Rotten Tomatoes and making only $4,166,918 at the US theater box office. Popular film critic Roger Ebert however, gave the film three stars, saying: "This may not be a great movie, but for both Duchovny and Hutton, it's a turning point", citing Duchovny's ability to "stand above the action" like Clint Eastwood; and Hutton's ability to create a real character as the villain, instead of merely filling a space.

In an interview with the New York Times dated 9 April 2000, David Duchovny himself, while talking about production difficulties, stated that “Playing God was a mistake only because we didn't have a script ready... I should have just bailed out, but I didn't know."

External links

• Playing God at IMDb
• Playing God at AllMovie