PLAYING GOD

In PLAYING GOD, Doctor Eugene Sands (David Duchovny) must choose between doing what he loves − healing − and ending what he hates − violence. Opening with a discussion of choices, the movie depicts Sands taking drugs, then losing his patient and medical license. A man with an addictive personality who loves to heal people, Sands next chooses to save the life of a shooting victim in a bar. Viewers later find out that Sands took drugs because he couldn’t stand the responsibility of choosing which patients lived or died.

Sands’ heroic treatment of the bar patron brings him to the attention of international smuggler, Raymond Blossom (Timothy Hutton), who needs a gunshot doctor to treat the wounds of the thugs in his gang without exposing their identities in a public hospital. The FBI is watching Blossom closely as he duels with the Russian Mafia for control of the lucrative software smuggling business. Blossom cuts out the Russians, but they retaliate and steal his merchandise. Blossom’s thugs capture Vladmir (played by Peter Stormare), the chief Russian hooligan, but one of them shoots Vlad before Vlad has told them where the software is stashed. Blossom hires Sands for $10,000 to heal Vlad so the gang can pump Vlad for information. Blossom doesn’t tell Sands he plans to kill Vlad later. In fact, all Sands knows is that he is in lust with Claire (Angelina Jolie), Blossom’s beautiful girlfriend.

An FBI agent, “Mr. Gage” (played by Michael Massee) shows up at Sands’ apartment and threatens Sands with drug and conspiracy charges if he doesn’t help nail Blossom. Sands eventually agrees to carry a recording device, wryly commenting in voice-over that he has gone from “respected doctor to mob doctor to FBI snitch.” Gage tells Sands there is an informant in Blossom’s gang, but doesn’t reveal who it is.

Sands returns to Blossom’s haven with a FBI listening device taped to his body. The new Russian Mafia leader, Dmitri, breaks into Blossom’s office with a squad of goons who shoot one of Blossom’s thugs and his girlfriend, Claire, in the breast. While Dmitri aims a gun at Sands’ head, he cares for Claire, as Blossom goes crazy. Another Blossom thug enters and executes the Russian hooligans.

Blossom drives away from the carnage with his henchman in the front seat and Sands treating the wounded Claire in the back seat. As he treats her, Sands finds a FBI listening device attached to Claire’s body, proving that she was Cage’s informant. Notwithstanding the peril to his own life, Sands tells Claire he is going to save her. He shoots her full of painkiller, then screams to Blossom that she is dead, driving him into a mad frenzy. Claire wakes up and stabs the henchman in the neck. Sands gets rid of the henchman’s body and Blossom. Sands takes Claire to his conveniently situated summer home and tends to her wounds but puts off calling the FBI.

Meanwhile, Blossom recovers, figures out that Claire has betrayed him and contacts Gage, the FBI agent, to make a deal. The FBI offers to give Claire back to him if he will turn over some Chinese smugglers whom he is about meet. Blossom meets the Chinese with Claire and Sands, but the deal doesn’t go well. Blossom shoots all the Chinese smugglers, while Gage has a fit as he listens to the confrontation on the other end of the listening device. Blossom admits he planned to kill everyone, leaving the FBI high and dry.

Sands jumps into the action, precipitating the inevitable chase scene between him and Blossom, who jumps into the middle of traffic to shoot Sands and Claire, but is hit by a car. Unable to resist treating a wounded man, despite the fact that Blossom tried to murder him, Sands runs over to treat Blossom. Sands does save Blossom, who gets life in prison. Sands gets a chance to practice medicine again, and Claire gets an opportunity to get her life back together. Expressing the moral of his story, Sands says, “You must save yourself before you can save anyone else.”

PLAYING GOD makes a stab at the truth by exposing the fact that bad moral decisions lead to destruction and death. However, even with its stated moral that nobody − not even doctors can play God, the movie’s resolution rings hollow. No one can save oneself by one’s own efforts. The Bible says that “while we were still sinners, Christ saved us”(Romans 5:8). The only power which can really save anyone is the power of God, and so Sands’ insight is flawed. He says he must save himself. How? By getting clean of drugs? No. This movie wrongly assumes that people’s moral choices are made in a vacuum, where there are no absolute values, and clearly that is not the case.

PLAYING GOD is so complex that the story is hard to follow, with all the characters constantly double crossing each other. The only consistent thread is Sands’ desire to be a good doctor and to keep Claire alive. With choppy action, excessive violence, too many close-ups, and unsatisfying resolution, PLAYING GOD ultimately rings hollow.