Ryan Smith is a desperate man. He missed three required days at work, and without a plausible excuse he is in danger of losing his job. He goes to a Dr. Whitmore and offers him a bribe in exchange for a certificate stating he was under the doctor's care during his absence. When presented with a envelope of bills, the doctor agrees, but insists that they carry the charade to completion by checking his "patient" into the hospital, giving him a phony surgery, and falsifying reports.
The opening credit sequence had some nice special visual effects that tied in well with the soundtrack and kept up the suspenseful theme of this film, but they seemed a bit long. There was no consistency with the length of time that an actor's name stayed on the screen - the rule of thumb with text is to leave it up long enough to read the entire thing through three times, that way even slower readers will be able to follow along - but some stayed up for far too long. In addition, the segment preceding the credits is a series of shots sliced together from intervals throughout the film, almost as if it's a sort of trailer or teaser. This is more of a television style of shooting - give the audience a teaser of what's coming this week, then start the credits. My guess is that the filmmakers wanted to start the suspense right at the beginning by getting their audience hooked in a series of cryptic lines. It's an interesting idea, but you've probably only got a 50-50 chance that the audience will be intrigued and stay as opposed to being confused and walking away. A good film noir hooks its audience from the start with something shocking or intriguing. Think of The Maltese Falcon - it starts with the legend of the jewel-encrusted Maltese Falcon, and then a private eye is murdered. Of course the audience immediately wonders what the two had to do with each other, and so the hook is in. Given the dramatic ending of this film, that might be a better way to start off. Not by giving everything away, but by just giving a little taste of the mystery.
Warning - Spoilers Ahead!
It would be very difficult to properly critique this film if I did not mention the ending. I am loathe to do so, however, since it lines up so nicely with the film noir genre; it reminds me a lot of one of those creepy little stories that would be told in Alfred Hitchcock Presents or The Twilight Zone.
Halfway through the film I found myself wondering, "Why would this guy pay so much money to this doctor - not to mention medical bills, as he certainly couldn't clue in his insurance to this little scheme - just to keep his job? Everything he's spending is going to cancel out whatever he's making there, and if it's that important of a job he can probably just get a new one." What I thought to be a major flaw in logic, however, turns out to be the crux of the story. For when the doctor asks those same questions, Ryan gives him the truth. This has nothing to do with a job, and everything to do with the covering up of a murder. Ryan's girlfriend dumped him and he snapped, killing her. To patch together an alibi for himself, he went to Dr Whitmore who, in final and gut-wrenching twist of fate happens to be the girl's father. He secures Dr. Whitmore silence by involving him in a scheme that, if he confesses, will surely lead to the revocation of his license. But, at the same time, he has provided an alibi to his own daughter's murderer. Intriguing, isn't it? It's a really great ending, though I was hoping for one final twist. Perhaps, in the vein of Hitchcock, the Doctor takes his revenge then and there and kills Ryan. Or, to lean toward the Twilight Zone, Ryan suddenly suffers complications from his unnecessary surgery and dies on the doctor's floor.
