REVIEWS from

PRESENTING ANOTHER GREAT

page 103

SHIRLEE
BLOOM
SPECIALTY DINNER

THANKSGIVING MENU

Spending time in a hospital is not
my notion of a nifty time. And 109
minutes in the hospital warren of
Critical Care did not change my atti-
tude.
At Memorial Hospital, which is
on the cutting edge of medical exper-
tise, Dr. Werner Ernst (James Spader)
is a rising star. Despite the German
name — and the fact that Spader has
some resemblance to the late Austrian
star Oskar Werner — he's a pure, dri-
ven American yuppie, a gilded prince
in white, even when sleep-fogged.
Ernst works in the critical-care
ward, where patients are kept on
life-support systems. Some are keen to
die, like kidney patient "bed two"
(Jeffrey Wright). Old Mr. Potter
(Bruno Dessler) is vegetalized in coma,
not available to the daughters dueling
over his fate and his fortune.
Felicia (Kyra Sedgwick) is a hotsy-
totsy model who wants to pull the
plug on dad, so she can get $10 mil-
lion before a certain date. Opposing
her is Connie (Margo Martindale), a
Bible-quoting parody of religious
belief who wants to keep dad going so
she can inherit past that date
(the will is a classic plot convenience).
Ernst gets caught in the middle,
though briefly seduced by Felicia; his
taste for her seems a juvenile betrayal
of his honed intelligence. Pull the
plug, or not? Get blackmailed by
Felicia? Sued by Connie? For advice
there is only a nice nurse and mastec-
tomy survivor (Helen Mirren), some
hospital lawyers who seem to
be in ethical coma and an old doctor
turned bureaucrat, played as a Walter
Matthau coot by Albert Brooks (a few
good zingers but, as in his own
Mother, well below his best).
Bound to Steven Schwartz's thesis-
driven script, director Sidney Lumet
can get only a few chugs going of his
usual fierce energy. All the hospital
white is sort of a wintry sapsucker,
too. And the cast, though caviar, has
been served on stale crackers, with
"cute" moments giving way to earnest
discussions and (always a clue to high-
er vibration) a Mozart quintet on the
soundtrack.
Loading the deck arbitrarily, Lumet
and Schwartz bring in a sort of cheru-
bic devil, played by Wallace Shawn.
He tells "bed two" that heaven is
impossible for him but —
cheer up! — "My hell's alot better
than the hell you've got now." Wow,
what a bedside manner. And then
(sweet shades of Audrey Hepburn in

ALL THE TRIMMINGS!
COMPLETE TURKEY DINNER WITH HOMEMADE
CRANBERRY RELISH

• CHALLAH STUFFING
WITH GRAVY
• MUSHROOM BARLEY OR
CHICKEN SOUP

$12 99

•

•

per person • MASHED POTATOES W/GRAVY

OR CANDIED SWEET POTATOES

• WHOLE ROASTED EMPIRE TURKEY
WITH GRAVY (Sliced on Request)
• FRENCH CUT BEAN ALMON DINE

OR ROASTED POTATOES ANNA
• DINNER ROLLS

A LA CARTE ITEMS

• VEGETARIAN CHOPPED LIVER '7.491b.
5 4.49 qt.
• MUSHROOM BARLEY SOUP
5 4.49 qt.
• CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP
' .79 each
• MATZO BALLS •
• KREPLACH
5 8.99 doz.
(Beef, Chicken or Vegetarian)
5 3.99 doz.
• MASHED POTATOES
5 5.49 qt.
• ROASTED POTATOES ANNA

• FARFEL W/MUSHROOMS

5.49 qt.

• KISHKE

5

1.39 each

• SPINACH BROCCOLI

• KISHE W/GRAVY
• SWEET POTATOES

5 1.39

• CHALLAH STUFFING

5

5.49 qt.

5

4.75

1.95 each • 1/2 ROASTED CHICKEN
• NOODLE PUDDING SQUARE. . .. 5 1.75 each • BEEF BRISKET
'2.50 pt
• GRAVY
• WHOLE ROASTED EMPIRE
9 .99 qt.
9.99 pt.
• CRANBERRY RELISH
TURKEY wrm GRAVY
5 7.49 pkg. (6)
• STUFFED CABBAGE

CASSEROLE SQUARE

Holiday Pastries & Desserts
Available
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5

each

5 1.99 per.

5 15,99

5 3.99 lb.

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