Joe Slovak (Matthew Modine) is the son of an east coast fisherman. Bright as a button, however, Joe wants to become a doctor and he gains acceptance into a medical school. Once there, his easy going style is at odds with those around him. Beautiful Laurie (Daphne Zuniga) is the privileged daughter of a wealthy doctor and wastes no time in telling Joe that her schedule has no room for casual dating. Then, too, Joe's anal roommate, David (Todd Field) is so uptight he has flossing on his daily schedule and his lab partner, Miles, has a silk shirt on every day. In addition to all of this, the school boasts a no-nonsense instructor (Christine Lahti) that uses ridicule as a teaching tool, if she so desires. Will Joe be able to sail the difficult waters of a first year medical student, without compromising his basic style and principles? This is a fine look at the first year in the life of a medical student. The workload is excruciating, to say the least, and even those who are smart and dedicated can fall between the cracks, failing examinations and more. All of the actors playing these roles are terrific, with Modine a delight as the atypical medical student and Zuniga very lovely as the determined but thoughtful doctor to be. Then, too, Lahti is wonderful as the much-despised instructor who uses her sharp tongue to weed out those who don't have what it takes to become competent doctors. You will like the costumes, sets, and look of this film very much, too. If you are contemplating a future as a doctor, you must get this film soon, as it will give you a taste of the intensity your life will take on for the next few years. But, even if you just love films about the medical profession or those that boast a nice little love story, this one is for you.

After several years of trying, wavy-haired fisherman's son Matthew Modine (as Joseph "Joe" Slovak) is finally accepted at medical school. This is helped by his admission that he wants to be a doctor for the paycheck. Arriving at a school that looks very much like USC (aka The University of Southern California), Mr. Modine initially doesn't want to crack the books. He'd rather get into beautiful lab mate Daphne Zuniga (as Laurie Rorbach). Modine may also secretly desire professor Christine Lahti (as Rachel Woodruff), but not anal retentive roommate Todd Field (as David Schreiner)...

The title is going to make many think this is gross-out movie, but this is really a romantic college comedy, with cadavers...

Modine's lead character is very smart, but obviously not ready to take the Hippocratic Oath. This is something Prof. Lahti notices when she asks him to diagnosis a terminal case. He gets it right, but is heartless. Maybe he's just reacting to her being a hard-nose, because we see Modine's humanity in the way he treats Mr. Field's character (hope he's okay). The film is off balance because we care more about what happens to roommate Field, squirrelly John Scott Clough (as Miles Reed) and ovulating Alice Carter (as Kim McCauley) than Modine or Ms. Zuniga, who are likable but bland.

****** Gross Anatomy (10/20/89) Thom Eberhardt ~ Matthew Modine, Daphne Zuniga, Christine Lahti, Todd Field