4. Dr. Lawrence Myrick (Extreme Measures)
In this medical drama in the vein of Coma, Dr, Lawrence Myrick (Gene Hackman) administers an agent to Hugh Grant's Dr. Luthan to make him think he's paralysed from the neck down so that he will support Myricks attempts to cure paralysis - even though it includes conducting experiments on homeless people, some of whom die as a result. The immediate flaw with this set up of hero vs villain is that, like Old Joe, Myrick isn't a bad guy. As his wife says,
"my husband was trying to do a good thing, but in the wrong way". Myrick was trying to cure the world of paralysis - a fate that befell his own daughter - what's so wrong about that? Okay, he skipped a few hoops but it's hard to make a case for him as a bad guy that needed to be stopped. And when he tells Luthan that his homeless test subjects are heroes and losing one to save millions is worth the sacrifice, it's hard not to see his logic. Especially when he argues:
"it takes 3 years to get a dog. 10 for a chimp. Decades before human trials? And all the time I could be saving people and making a difference. Like to you, when you thought you were confined to a wheelchair for the rest of your life". In the end, the "villain" Myrick is shot and killed yet there is no cheer, no jumping for joy. Just the numb realisation that he was right when he told Luthan:
"people die everyday. And for what? For nothing. What do we do? What do *you* do? You take care of the ones you think you can save. Good doctors do the correct thing. Great doctors have the guts to do the right thing".