Rating: NR
Genre:
Drama
Release Date: 01/20/2004
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD1
Run Time: 89 Minutes
Distributor/Studio: MGM
Unable to get through to a particularly hostile patient, psychiatrist
Peter Falk goes to gray-haired senior shrink
Sidney Poitier for advice. This prompts
Poitier to recall his experiences during World War II. While working on behalf of the government,
Poitier was assigned the case of psycho Nazi sympathizer
Bobby Darin. A complex flashback structure reveals the various influences that led to
Darin's warped state of mind and to his life of crime.
Poitier perceives that
Darin is potentially dangerous, and insists that he needs further treatment. The government sees things differently, and allows
Darin, who on the surface shows signs of recovery, to leave the hospital. The horrible results of this decision serve to convince
Poitier to follow his own gut feelings no matter what his fellow "experts" might advise, and to continue probing even the most recalcitrant or deceptively "cured" of patients. Essentially a conformist psychological
melodrama,
Pressure Point truly comes to life whenever
Bobby Darin is on the screen. His performance was outstanding, far better than his Oscar-nominated turn in 1963's
Captain Newman MD. Unfortunately, the critics were aligned against
Darin, possibly because of the singer/actor's well-publicized arrogance;
Judith Crist went so far as to compare
Darin to
Dr. Samuel Johnson's walking dog, quipping that the most remarkable aspect of
Darin's performance was not that he did it well, but that he did it at all.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
;)
