Dying Young

 Released: 1991
Starring: Julia Roberts, Campbell Scott
Director: Joel Schumacher
Running Time: 111 minutes

The breakdown:
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Oh, sorry.  This movie wasn't anything special.  My expectations for this movie were high.  I remember seeing previews for it decades ago and just barely got around to watching it on cable last night.  I expected an epic love story with someone dying at the end.  Didn't happen.  I know this movie is based on a novel, and perhaps that is better, but I haven't read it.

Scott plays a rich terminally ill cancer patient looking for an "attractive" nurse to take care of him.  Roberts is a freshly cheated on jobless woman looking for a new start.  She goes to his mansion and gets rejected for the job by his dad (the rich mogul) but Scott sees her and has his butler chase her down before she leaves.  She's hired.  She doesn't have any nursing skill or knowledge but does well to take care of him while he's going through his chemo.

He gets tired of hanging around the mansion and tells her to go away with him to the upper California country near the beach to have a safe adventure.  He's been slowly making the moves on her, but she won't have it.  So, they go, while daddy is away on a business trip, and rent a beach cabin.  They make friends with the locals, and eventually kiss and have sex even though, they don't show any of the good stuff.

Scott says he's getting better, but he's lying.  He's getting ready to die and just wanted Roberts around to comfort him in his final days.  She finds out and pleads with him to go back to the hospital and get more treatment.  Don't give up, live with me, blah, blah, blah.  No one dies at the end.  I didn't really care at the end either.

The characters aren't fully developed, the plot's a bit boring, the acting's ok, but some of the shots are bordering on soap opera drama.  I guess that's what happens when Joel Schumacher tries to make a love story - it doesn't work.  Overall, I never got very involved emotionally with the characters, so their wasn't a reason to care about them.

1 out of 5 tickets stubs.  You can totally skip this movie and not miss a thing.