Film Review

Jennifer K Mahal

When cancer crops up in a movie, it’s usually a signal for sugary

sentimentality. No so in “The Medicine Show,” in which Taylor Darcy

(Jonathan Silverman) is diagnosed with prostrate cancer, the same kind

that killed his father. While his friends try to be supportive, Darcy

makes a point of being sarcastic, mocking his way through his illness

with black humor.

Luckily, in the hospital he meets Lynn (Natasha Gregson Wagner), a

leukemia patient who matches him in her distaste for weeping. The two

make a perfect match, and for the first time Taylor finds he could be

falling in love.

Laughter might be the best medicine, but there’s little to be found in

“The Medicine Show.” There are some sharp observations about the way

people behave around those who are terminally ill or even just

chronically sick. But even those are overshadowed by the hard-edged humor

Taylor spouts, jokes that are more sad than funny.

Director/writer Wendell Morris may have wanted to avoid sentimentality

in creating “The Medicine Show,” but it could have used a little more

heart.

* “The Medicine Show” will play 4 p.m. Monday in the Lido Theater,

3459 Via Lido, Newport Beach, with an encore screening at 11:30 a.m.

Wednesday at Edwards Island 1, 999 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach.