White Coats

White Coats

I had the "privilege" of screening this movie. The reaction from the audience should have told the producers everything they needed to know. The gags in the movie didn't even warrant a good-natured groan. We weren't allowed to leave before the end of the movie and had to fill out a mandatory questionnaire at the end. I recommended that the movie never be released it was so horribly unfunny and plot less. Oh well... The jokes were so obvious, the audience could see the set up coming from a mile away, and there wasn't even a giggle when the gag was delivered. The entire movie was a series of non- plot, non-essential scenes that didn't even string together to create any kind of statement or point. I love senseless comedy, but I couldn't managed to even like this movie.

OK, so "Intern Academy" is a lame title, but here in the US, "White Coats" was a great comedic venture into Canadian independent film-making. There are a lot of actors here (mostly young) whom you've never seen, and they make up most of the screen time. You also haven't really seen Dave Thomas (the actor/director in this film who makes for a stern doctor/teacher-type character) for awhile since back on TV's "Grace Under Fire." Dave Foley has wonderful acting in this film, but you'll notice how dark and unfunny his character is throughout the film. The jokes in the film work about 70% of the time (some are just corny or gross-out humor that doesn't really work). Halfway through the film, the direction turns this film into one of the newer National Lampoon's adventures, complete with a * scene, a horny staff of interns, and a crazy office party for Christmas or something. There was a particularly ridiculous scene which was a 3 Stooges classic food-fight except replace food with human organs. There were also horrible props like the giant * (basically a *) which was supposed to be one of the interns' actual *...a little too lowbrow, fake, and gross for me. I thought Dr. Keller was awesome (played by the Jim Carey-ish Matt Frewer, who I've seen before). I thought the coolest thing about the film was the way it switched from a comedy to a drama in parts. It kept the action original and didn't stretch out the comedic bits. I thought it was funny that the DVD subtitles switch from English to Spanish about 54 minutes into the film as well (although I'm sure that wasn't intentional). I also thought that it received a weak R-rating, although there was significant talk of sex and all that between interns. I gave it a 7/10 stars. Go check it out if you don't mind new actors and different comedic direction.

this is actually a pretty good movie.it does not rely on slapstick bit more on situational comedy.there are quite a few chuckles throughout,peppers with some hysterical moments.the movie flowed along nicely.the story is concerned with a group of interns and their exploits at the worst hospital in the country.the interns themselves are mostly dysfunctional as are the doctors, nurses and other staff.the hospital administrator is a bit odd,to say the least.it is very easy to like these characters,because they each have personalities(with their own quirks) that stand out.the acting is also good.you could do much worse with 2 hours of your life than this.i'd recommend it for a entertaining 2 hour diversion at the very least. 6.5/10

I watched with a friend who commented that this move "blows chunks". It was a waste of time and talent of all those involved. I'm not sure if Dave Thomas was simply mislead or nobody had the guts to tell him this was a bad idea. While I have enjoyed Dan Aykroyd in other movies and would be inclined to suggest he stick to wine, in my opinion, those are terrible too - both the red and the white. This should never have made it past the "pitch" stage, let alone the cutting room floor ... the joke was really on me for wasting my money on this movie. Shame on you Dave Thomas for "phoning in" this script and for Dan Aykroyd and the other actors for not having the cajones to stop it before it became an embarrassment.

It's good to see that great Canadian comedy movies can still be made! Dave Thomas of SCTV fame has written a great modern comedy here. If you like the T.V. show "Scrubs" (and most people do) then you will love "Intern Academy" too. This movie is kind of a cross between the Police Academy movies (in a good way), National Lampoon's movies and of course "Scrubs". Some of the scenes are more adult oriented but this movie will have you laughing and more than once. This is definitely the best Canadian comedy of the year. I have also seen "Ham and Cheese" (awful despite scenes with Dave Foley and Scott Thompson) and this movie is so much better. "Intern Academy" also has a lot of recognizable Canadian actors and comedy performers who all turn in good performances. Buy this movie, see this movie, watch this movie! 10/10

I picked up this movie solely because it was a comedy about doctors and the process interns go through. Honestly, I laughed a lot, but it's not brilliant comedy or anything. It's simple laughs that have a ring of truth. There are a lot of clichés in the movie that have been exaggerated. It's not brilliant, but there are some good laughs throughout the movie. There is a definite amount of predictability about the movie, but the situation, and the way it is portrayed somewhat makes up for that fact. I'm probably going to wind up buying this movie to bring to medical school with me. It'll be something to laugh at when I'm dying with exams. :) In summary: It's a decent movie. Nothing brilliant, but great for laughs, and it rings true for those who are interested in the medical field.

It is a big insult to Scrubs to even say that there are similarities. Scrubs has quality writing and quality acting, which are both SO lacking in this movie. It's as if Dave Thomas opened a medical book and tried to piece together a comedy from it. Does that even sound funny? NO! As a doctor, the medical inaccuracies were mind numbing to me. Do you want your surgeon to NOT wear a mask while operating? Yeah, let's get a little spit on that heart to shine it up. Heck, do you think it even feasible for a NON-surgical intern to magically do brain surgery? Something that takes at least 7 years for a neurosurgeon to master? And no, it is NOT an EKG in the operating room, it's a freakin' HEART MONITOR! Do a little homework and be creative with how you present those urban legends! Really, I can forgive medical errors from non-medical writers, but aside from that, this was just a stupid movie. I'd rather watch Dude Where's My Car again!

This was a very poorly done movie; the comedy was forced, the script was cliché and the characters were wooden. Surprisingly, some of the worst performances were done by the best known actors (Dan Aykroyd, Dave Thomas, Dave Foley). It was almost literally painful to sit through the whole movie while my intelligence was consistently flogged and insulted. The only redeeming factor of this movie is that anyone who is a fan of local Edmonton live theatre will have fun picking out some very familiar faces. Neil Grahn, Ron Pederson, David Belke (without his trademark beard), Julien Arnold, Coralie Cairns, Davina Stewart and many other well known Edmonton actors & actresses have bit parts or cameo appearances in this movie.

I rented this out of curiosity because I went to school with Carly Pope at Lord Byng Secondary in Vancouver (1996) and wanted to see her acting. I'm not sure how this movie has managed to average a 6.0/10!!! The plot was borderline non-existent/trivial and the acting was all around horrible. It was almost like all the actors realized the movie was crap and just couldn't pull themselves together enough to actually try and act (everyone in the movie had this perpetual smirk). So no intellectual entertainment, but also no realism. Everything from how the hospital was run to how doctors interacted with each other and patients could be nothing more than some kind of extended joke. But it wasn't funny. So for those ER fan types this movie won't satisfy your doctor fantasies while hopefully getting a chuckle or two out of you. So all that is left is possibly comedic value. Surprise surprise...there was none. The jokes were so immature and superficial as to be simply irritating rather than funny. However, I will concede that possibly this movie could be entertaining for children between the ages of 5-9.