Caution! This nuclear family is in the middle of meltdown!
Ed Avery (James Mason), the core of the Avery nuclear
family, suffers a complete collapse due to hardening veins, but his family
doctor may have a solution to ease his pain and prolong his life - the
"miracle" drug called cortisone. It's still in the experimental
phases, though, so the side effects are relatively unknown - other than a few
bouts of depression. Under close supervision, Ed is administered varying
dosages of cortisone at the hospital to see how strong of a dosage he needs to
relieve his pain, which takes place during one of the greatest and most
informative graph montages ever conceived. Once the right dosage is found, Ed
is released to return back to his loving wife, Lou (Barbara Rush), and his son,
Richie (Christopher Olsen).
Just one more pill... |
Ed has never felt better in his entire life. He's spry as a
schoolboy and he picks up the habit of tossing around the ole pigskin with his
son - a pigskin that once sat deflated on the fireplace mantle. Ed becomes a
little too gung-ho, though, and starts spending money he just doesn't have,
much to his wife's dismay. After an argument that ends with a mirror being
shattered (not by Ed!), Ed has an emotional breakdown and decides that he only
needs to up his cortisone dosage to solve his emotional problems. Oh brother...
Even Ed's shadow looms over his wife and son. |
Lou argues that it's only the pills that's making her
husband say and think such ugly things, but I disagree. Before his collapse, Ed
remarks that everyone he knows is dull, and the travel posters plastered on
every wall in the house reflect his desire for a bigger and better life. The
cortisone injections may have driven Ed to become a homicidal maniac, but every
"superior" thought, every annoyance, was just festering inside of him
from the get-go as that silent voice in his head that he always told to shut
up. Lou is quick to forgive, but I wouldn't be, especially after he came
after me and my son with a pair of scissors. Director Nicholas Ray tries to paint a
picture of hope at the end, but the doctors point out that Ed will have to
continue taking cortisone if he wishes to live. Ed, Lou, and Richie may be
hugging each other at the end, but I bet Lou's telling a very terrified voice
inside her head to shut up.
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