''Gross Anatomy'' is a 1989 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by Thom Eberhardt and starring

Matthew Modine Matthew Avery Modine (born March 22, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker, who rose to prominence through his role as U.S. Marine Private/Sergeant J.T. "Joker" Davis in ''Full Metal Jacket''. His other film roles include the title character ...

Daphne Zuniga Daphne Eurydice Zuniga (; born October 28, 1962) is an American actress. She made her film debut in the 1982 slasher film '' The Dorm That Dripped Blood'' (1982) at the age of 19, followed by a lead role in another slasher film '' The Initiation ...

, and

Christine Lahti Christine Ann Lahti (born April 4, 1950) is an American actress and filmmaker. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1984 film '' Swing Shift''. Her other film roles include '' ...And Justice for All'' (19 ...

. It was released by Touchstone Pictures.

Plot

Joe Slovak is a brilliant first-year medical school student whose nonconformist approach to life is tested when he enrolls in

gross anatomy Gross anatomy is the study of anatomy at the visible or macroscopic level. The counterpart to gross anatomy is the field of histology, which studies microscopic anatomy. Gross anatomy of the human body or other animals seeks to understand the rela ...

, the toughest course in med school. His schoolfriends and lab partners include Kim, a pregnant woman; Miles, a buttoned-down blue-blood; Laurie, an overly ambitious student determined to make it; and David, an over analyzer who is also his roommate. Joe's freewheeling, independent style creates funny moments in the classroom, but puts him at odds with the demanding department head, Dr. Woodruff, who questions whether her easygoing "class rebel" has what it takes to be a doctor. Meanwhile, Joe falls in love with his lab partner Laurie, who won't let anything, especially romance, interfere with her plans. And while Joe's never done anything by the book, he proves he does have what it takes to succeed — without changing his ways. However, Joe's ways and the ways of medicine come to a head when he is ordered to do an extra credit assignment by Dr. Woodruff involving a complex diagnosis. Joe correctly diagnoses it as a serious, difficult-to-treat chronic illness and learns the patient is Dr. Woodruff herself. Joe returns to class and his teammates help him get caught up with his studies. Just before final exams, the class is notified that Dr. Woodruff has passed away. This renews Joe's dedication to learning medicine and he takes his studies and his future more seriously. He and Laurie successfully pass their first year of medical school, Kim has her baby and vows to return to school, David is asked to leave med school due to drug addiction, and Miles passes but his grades are a bit lower than Joes and Lauries.

Cast

as Joe Slovak *

as Laurie Rorbach *

as Dr. Rachel Woodruff *

Todd Field William Todd Field (born February 24, 1964) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for directing three feature films: '' In the Bedroom'' (2001), '' Little Children'' (2006), and '' Tár'' (2022). He has received three Academy Award no ...

as David Schreiner * John Scott Clough as Miles Reed * Alice Carter as Kim McCauley *

Robert Desiderio Robert Desiderio (born September 9, 1951) is an American actor best known for his roles on television. Life and career Desiderio was born in The Bronx, the son of Mary (née Demattia) and Anthony J. Desiderio. He and actress Judith Light marrie ...

as Dr. Banks *

Zakes Mokae Zakes Makgona Mokae (5 August 1934 – 11 September 2009) was a South African-American actor of theatre and film. Life and career Mokae was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, moved to the United Kingdom in 1961, and to the United States ...

as Dr. Banumbra * Ryan Cash as Frankie Slovak

Reception

''Gross Anatomy'' was released domestically on October 20, 1989, earning $2,830,387 in 853 theaters during its opening weekend. After its theatrical run, the film brought in a total of $11,604,598 at the domestic box office. Upon its initial release, the film received mixed to negative critical response. Roger Ebert of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...

'' gave the film a three-star review stating, "Most of the major events in the movie can be anticipated, but they are played with a genuine grace."

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' also gave the film a positive review, describing the film as "mostly funny and engaging." It holds a rating of 36% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 11 reviews.

References

External links

* * {{Thom Eberhardt 1989 films American drama films 1989 drama films Medical-themed films Touchstone Pictures films Films directed by Thom Eberhardt Films scored by David Newman Films produced by Debra Hill Films set in universities and colleges 1980s English-language films 1980s American films