Flat Liners

5/28/2018 Flat Liners

1/5

Flatliners 1

Flatliners

Flatliners

Theatrical Release Poster

Directed by Joel Schumacher

Produced by Michael Douglas

Rick Bieber

Written by Peter Filardi

Starring Kiefer Sutherland

Julia Roberts

William Baldwin

Oliver Platt

Kevin Bacon

Music by James Newton Howard

Cinematography Jan de Bont

Editing by Robert Brown

Studio Stonebridge Entertainment

Distributed by Columbia Pictures

Release dates August 10, 1990

Running time 111 minutes

Country US

Language English

Budget $26 million

Box office $141,181,969

Flatliners is a 1990 American sci-fi-drama-thriller film starring Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon,

William Baldwin and Oliver Platt. Five medical students use physical science in an attempt to find out what lies

beyond death. They conduct clandestine experiments that produce near-death experiences. The tagline, "Some lines

shouldn't be crossed", suggests that the movie is intended as a mad scientist story. The movie was directed by Joel

Schumacher, and it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound Editing in 1990 (Charles L. Campbell and

Richard C. Franklin). It was filmed between October 1989 and January 1990.[1]

Plot

Nelson Wright (Kiefer Sutherland), convinces four of his medical school classmates Joe Hurley (William

Baldwin), David Labraccio (Kevin Bacon), Randall Steckle (Oliver Platt) and Rachel Manus (Julia Roberts) to

help him discover what lies beyond death. Nelson flatlines for one minute before his classmates resuscitate him.

While "dead", he experiences a sort of afterlife. He sees a vision of a boy he bullied as a child, Billy Mahoney. He

merely tells his friends that he can't describe what he saw, but something is there. The others decide to follow

Nelson's daring feat. Joe flatlines next, and he experiences an erotic afterlife sequence. He agrees with Nelson's

claim that something indeed exists. David is third to flatline, and he sees a vision of a black girl, Winnie Hicks

(Kimberly Scott), that he bullied in grade school. The three men start to experience vivid hallucinations that are

related to their afterlife visions, but Nelson's circumstances are particularly freakish; he is repeatedly physicallyattacked by Billy Mahoney and each day presents with fresh cuts and wounds. Joe, engaged to be married, is haunted

by home videos that he secretly filmed of his sexual trysts with other women. David is confronted by a vision of
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Erotichttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kimberly_Scotthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kimberly_Scotthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Erotichttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Afterlifehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Julia_Robertshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oliver_Platthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kevin_Baconhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Baldwinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Baldwinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kiefer_Sutherlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_C._Franklinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charles_L._Campbellhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Academy_Award_for_Best_Sound_Editinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joel_Schumacherhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joel_Schumacherhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mad_scientisthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Taglinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Near-death_experiencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Afterlifehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Physical_sciencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oliver_Platthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Baldwinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kevin_Baconhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Julia_Robertshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kiefer_Sutherlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thriller_%28genre%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Drama_filmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Science_fiction_filmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_dollarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Columbia_Pictureshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jan_de_Bonthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Newton_Howardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kevin_Baconhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oliver_Platthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Baldwinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Julia_Robertshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kiefer_Sutherlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Douglashttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joel_Schumacher


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Flatliners 2

Winnie Hicks on a train, and she verbally taunts him like he did to her.

At Rachel's insistence, the group agrees to let her flatline next. David, disturbed by his hallucinations, has a change

of heart and tries to stop the others from giving Rachel their same fate, but she has already flatlined by the time he

arrives. They are almost unableto bring Rachel back to life after the power goes out, as the men cannot shock her

with the defibrillator paddles. Luckily they manage to recusitate her, but she, too, begins experiencing haunting

flashbacks: in her case, memories of her father committing suicide when she was a young girl. One by one, the othermen open up about their harrowing experiences to one another, and David decides to put his visions to a stop. He

tracks down Winnie Hicks, now grown up, and travels to her home to offer an apology. Winnie thanks him, and

accepts his apology. David immediately feels a weight lifted off his shoulders. Nelson, who has accompanied David

on the trip, remains alone in David's truck and catches a glimpse of Billy Mahoney darting past outside. Suddenly

Billy appears inside the truck and attacks him with a pickaxe. Nelson struggles to fend him off and David arrives on

the scene just in time to end the hallucination and prevent serious injury to Nelson, revealing that Nelson was alone

in the truck and that he was attacking himself with the pickaxe. Meanwhile, Joe's fiance, Anne (Hope Davis),

unexpectedly comes to his apartment, and she breaks off their engagement after discovering his videos. Joe's visions

cease after Anne leaves him. Rachel seeks comfort in the arms of David, and the two spend the night together in bed.

While Rachel and David are together, Nelson brings Steckle and Joe to the gravesite of Billy Mahoney. He reveals along-kept secret: he and his friends inadvertently killed Billy Mahoney as youngsters when they chased him up a tree

and pelted him with rocks, causing him to fall to his death. Nelson mutters to himself about making amends, then

suddenly storms off, leaving Joe and Steckle stranded.

David leaves Rachel alone in order to pick up Joe and Steckle from the cemetery. While alone, Rachel goes to the

bathroom, and encounters her father. He apologizes to his daughter, and her guilt over his death is lifted when she

discovers that he was addictedto heroin. Rachel receives a phone call from Nelson, who tells her that he needs to

flatline again in order to make amends. He apologizes for involving her and their friends in his plan before hanging

up. Rachel and the other threemen realize what Nelson is planning and race to save him, eventually reaching him

more than nine minutes after his phone call. They work feverishly to save him, but too much time has passed and

they decide to give up. Meanwhile, in the afterlife a young Nelson has reversed roles with Billy Mahoney and is

being pelted with rocks by him and his other friends while up in the tree. Young Nelson falls from the tree, morphing

into the older Nelson just before hitting the ground. He looks up to see Billy Mahoney standing over him and smiling

before slowly walking away into a bright light, having made peace. In an act of utter frustration, David gives Nelson

one last shock. Miraculously, Nelson is resuscitated, and after regaining consciousness he tells them, "Today wasn't a

good day to die."

Cast

Kiefer Sutherland - Nelson Wright

Julia Roberts - Rachel Manus Kevin Bacon - David Labraccio

William Baldwin - Joe Hurley

Oliver Platt - Randy Steckle

Kimberly Scott - Winnie Hicks

Joshua Rudoy - Billy Mahoney

Benjamin Mouton - Mr. Manus

Hope Davis - Anne Coldren

Patricia Belcher - Edna

Beth Grant - Housewife
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kiefer_Sutherlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Julia_Robertshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kevin_Baconhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Baldwinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oliver_Platthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kimberly_Scotthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hope_Davishttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Patricia_Belcherhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Beth_Granthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hope_Davishttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Patricia_Belcherhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Beth_Granthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Beth_Granthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Patricia_Belcherhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hope_Davishttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kimberly_Scotthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oliver_Platthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Baldwinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kevin_Baconhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Julia_Robertshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kiefer_Sutherlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Heroinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hope_Davishttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fianc%C3%A9ehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Suicidehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Defibrillator


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Critical reception

Upon its release Flatliners received mixed reviews. While the film was praised for its overall premise and striking

visual style, as well as the strong cast, it was criticized in some quarters for descending into silliness. The review

aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 48% of critics give the film a positive review, based on 42 reviews.[2]

In her review for The New York Times, Caryn James wrote:

"when taken on its own stylish terms, Flatliners is greatly entertaining. Viewers are likely to go along

with this film instantly or else ridicule it to death. Its atmospheric approach doesn't admit much middle

ground."[3]

Critic Roger Ebert praised the film as:

"an original, intelligent thriller, well-directed by Joel Schumacher"

and called the cast:

"talented young actors, [who] inhabit the shadows with the right mixture of intensity, fear and

cockiness."

But Ebert criticizedFlatliners for

"plot manipulation that is unworthy of the brilliance of its theme. I only wish it had been restructured so

we didn't need to go through the same crisis so many times."[4]

Similarly, Peter Travers ofRolling Stone magazine praised the film's young stars, but complained that:

"by dodging the questions it raises about life after death, Flatliners ends up tripping on timidity. It's a

movie about daring that dares nothing."[5]

Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "D" rating and Owen Gleiberman wrote:

"What isn't in evidence is the sort of overheated lunacy that made the William Hurt speed-freak trip

movie Altered States (1980) such delectable trash. Flatliners is camp, but of a very low order.

Schumacher is too intent on pandering to the youth market to take the mad risks and plunges that makefor a very good movie."

[6]

In contrast, The Washington Post's Rita Kempley loved the film, calling it:

"a heart-stopping, breathtakingly sumptuous haunted house of a movie that takes off where Dracula and

Dante left off and CPR began. . . . Movies about dying, grief and life after death are cropping up like

corn in the Field of Dreams as a response to on-screen violence, a reaction to AIDS, a desire for

something beyond materialism. And we're grateful for their reassurances even when they overreach

themselves. Though it's got its excesses,Flatliners brings a certain warmth to the chill of the decade."[7]

The excessive use of defibrillators has been criticised as medical nonsense, since they do not help in case of an

asystole.

Box Office

The movie debuted at No.1. With an estimated budget of $26 million, the film took in $61.5 million in the United

States during its theatrical run.[8]

References

[1] http://www.sonymoviechannel.com/movies/flatliners/details

[2] Flatliners, Rotten Tomatoes. (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/flatliners/) Accessed March 11, 2013.

[3] James, Caryn. "Young Doctors Explore the Boundary Between Life and Death",New York Times (August 10, 1990). (http://movies.

nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C0CE6D91F39F933A2575BC0A966958260) Accessed May 18, 2009.

[4] Ebert, Roger.Flatliners review, Chicago Sun-Times (Aug. 10, 1990). (http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/

19900810/REVIEWS/8100301/1023) Accessed Mar. 26, 2009.
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19900810/REVIEWS/8100301/1023http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19900810/REVIEWS/8100301/1023http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C0CE6D91F39F933A2575BC0A966958260http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C0CE6D91F39F933A2575BC0A966958260http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/flatliners/http://www.sonymoviechannel.com/movies/flatliners/detailshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Asystolehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Defibrillationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=AIDShttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Field_of_Dreamshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=CPRhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dantehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Draculahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Washington_Posthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Campyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Altered_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Hurthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Owen_Gleibermanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Entertainment_Weeklyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rolling_Stonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Peter_Travershttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Self-confidencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Roger_Eberthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_New_York_Timeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rotten_Tomatoes


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[5] Travers, Peter.Flatliners review,Rolling Stone #584 (Aug. 9, 1990). (http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/5948163/review/

5948164/flatliners) Accessed Mar. 26, 2009.

[6] Gleiberman, Owen. review.Entertainment Weekly (Aug. 10, 1990). (http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,317940,00.html''Flatliners'')

Accessed January 20, 2010.

[7] Kempley, Rita. review. Washington Post (Aug. 10, 1990). (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/

flatlinersrkempley_a0a093.htm''Flatliners'') Accessed Mar. 26, 2009.

[8] Internet Movie Database. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099582/business) Accessed Mar. 26, 2009.

External links

Flatliners(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099582/) at the Internet Movie Database

Flatliners(http://www.allmovie.com/movie/v17756) at AllMovie

Flatliners(http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/flatliners/) at Rotten Tomatoes
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rotten_Tomatoeshttp://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/flatliners/http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=AllMoviehttp://www.allmovie.com/movie/v17756http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Internet_Movie_Databasehttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099582/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099582/businesshttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/flatlinersrkempley_a0a093.htm''Flatliners''http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/flatlinersrkempley_a0a093.htm''Flatliners''http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,317940,00.html''Flatliners''http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/5948163/review/5948164/flatlinershttp://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/5948163/review/5948164/flatliners


5/5

Article Sources and Contributors 5

Article Sources and ContributorsFlatliners Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=600622395 Contributors: AarHan3, AbsoluteGleek92, Aitias, Alasdair, Andrzejbanas, Andy Dingley, Andycjp, Aspects,

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Flat Liners