By Geno McGahee
“I finally found a doctor that understands.” — Bert Harris (Eugene Levy)
I’ve always been a fan of Eugene Levy. He has had a great career where he’s done a lot of great work and some work that was merely a paycheck. Whatever the case, he always brings something good to a film, even if it’s not that great. He was memorable in SPLASH, AMERICAN PIE and even DUMB & DUMBERER: WHEN HARRY MET LLOYD. His unique look and delivery bring a presence to the screen and that is the case as well in the 1988 Ray Bradbury tale: SKELETON.
Bert Harris (Eugene Levy) is a hypochondriac, but his doctor is getting tired of his continual visits. In the waiting room, he sees a knocked up punk rocker, a guy with some sort of rash on his face and a guy with a broken neck. Harris immediately starts feeling their pain and when he goes to see his doctor, he starts complaining about just about everything. The doctor gets enraged and kicks him out of the office, leaving Harris no other choice but to find another specialist to help him and he finds Munigant (Peter Blais)
Munigant has a very futuristic office and has a very unique look. He is strange, but Harris is so desperate that is willing to give him a chance. He lies down on a bed of light (used a lot in these episodes) and Munigant looks into his mouth but decides he’s not ready for the procedure yet. He gives him a copy of the X-ray of his body and tells him to connect to it. Harris thinks he understands and leaves.
At home, his wife, a nurse, is not impressed with this new doctor’s findings and starts demanding he stop acting sick. Harris loses twenty pounds and gets nervous. He goes to a bar and sees a huge fat guy played by Thick Wilson. He asks him how he got so fat, which I thought initially would get him raging mad, but instead, he proves helpful. He tells Harris that he eats a lot and loves it and he almost goes into this orgasmic look as he talks about butter. I’m sure all obese people rejoice at the portrayal by Thick Wilson. His eating potato chips with his mouth open was a nice touch too.
Harris finally considers himself ready and meets up with Munigant one last time and the results are not what he expected. The wife comes home and sees her husband after the procedure and is not please at all with what she finds.
SKELETON is a very fun and interesting tale. Levy brings his usual charm to this and this role was very fitting for him. He plays the anxious sort of businessman very well and he came off as likable and believable here. The tale has a satisfying ending, which has hurt other Ray Bradbury tales, and it moves along at a great pace. I highly recommend this one. It was quite fun.
Rating: 7/10
THE NEWEST HORROR COLLECTION IS UNLEASHED – ORDER NOW!
