Cinema Consults: HOUSE

This television program israted on a scale of 1 to 4 caducei:

HOUSE

House

(Fox, Tuesday 9 PM EST):Although I usually stick with film reviews,I'm writingthis on a Tuesdayand my mind iselsewhere. I'm notwhat you wouldcall a televisionfanatic and oftenprefer a night atthe cinema. However, there arealways exceptions, and hasmanaged to raise itself above thereality TV blitz and spin-off pandemonium.Hugh Laurie stars as Dr.Gregory House, a rare disease specialistwho is as brilliant as he isgrumpy. His bedside manner is causticand he can often be seen stompingall over hospital policy to diagnoseand treat his mysteriously debilitatedpatients. And did I mention hisdependency on painkillers? He istruly the bad boy of medicine. Insome ways I feel as though Dr. Houseis a modern day comic book hero—the dark defender of patient care inthe wake of obstacles built by managedcare, hospital red tape, and malpracticeconcerns. The only thingthat concerns him is identifying theenemy disease and defeating it. He isalso supported by a strong cast,including Robert Sean Leonard, whois one of America's best young stageactors and has transferred his skillsto the small screen quite nicely. Theonly flaw I can find with the show isthat it isn't very realistic. Dr. Housealways zeros in on the exact diagnosisand has the sure fire treatment tosave the patient. I wish Dr. Housewas tenured at my local hospital.

Rating: 4

Lisa A. Tomaszewski, managing editor

of Physician's Money Digest, is currently

working on her PhD in literature at

Drew University in New Jersey. She is

an avid fan of film and has taught a

summer film course at Fairleigh

Dickinson University. She welcomes

questions, comments, or suggestions for

future film reviews at 732-656-1140

ext 195 or ltomaszewski@mwc.com.