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• Whose Life Is It Anyway? celebrates life and personal choice

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Four years after his mega hit Saturday Night Fever, John Badham directed the 1981 hidden gem Whose Life Is It Anyway? A serious comedy about an individual’s choice to die, Badham’s film proved as a remarkably effective adaptation of Brian Clark’s 1978 play.

In arguably one of his best performances, Richard Dreyfuss stars as a 32-year-old Boston sculptor named Ken Harrison, who after being in a horrible car accident is left a bedridden quadriplegic. Being confined to a bed without movement could lead to a very stilted performance, but Dreyfuss is spectacular. He brings such a range of emotions to his crippled character, from the comic silliness of dealing with the nursing staff to the sublime seriousness of contemplating the values of life with his lawyer and doctors. After several months in the hospital, as Harrison realizes his paralyzed fate with his inability to ever work again, he decides he wants to be released from his hospital confinement and kidney dialysis. With deep regret, he explains his reasons to die to hospital staff: “My whole being spoke to me through my fingers.”

Badham’s supporting cast combine for a wonderful ensemble complement to Dreyfuss, from the serious Dr. Emerson, played by the tough John Cassavetes, Christine Lahti’s sympathetic Dr. Clare Scott and Kaki Hunter, Thomas Carter and Alba Oms, as the ethnically diverse nursing staff who attend to Ken. Although at times a bit intense and moody, Whose Life Is It Anyway? is ultimately a film that celebrates life and personal choice.