.........................................................from Pasto,Colombia...Via: L.A. CA., CALI, COLOMBIA and ORLANDO, FL Events in your life can shape and change you...sometimes radically. Before my heart attack and triple bypass I rated this 8*. Now, it is a most resounding 10*! In "Whose Life" the life-altering event for sculptor Ken Harrison (Richard Dreyfuss in an outstanding performance) was a traffic accident that left him quadriplegic.About 6 months after the fact, Harrison begins to to realize that not only his sculptures, but his perception of the world, its interpretation and his own self-image had been shaped through the use of his hands. Of course, his hands "died" on the day of the accident, and therefore, Harrison concludes, so did he.The film focuses on both his day to day struggle to cope with his unbearable condition and his confrontation with the hospital administration, or at least with its decision-making chief medical officer, Dr. Emerson (John Cassavetes-turning in a fine performance), who is intent on keeping Harrison in the hospital and under its care, against his will, even if that means declaring Harrison incompetent.Christine Lahti also has a supporting role. The film is highly effective but not pretentious or preachy in the least. 10* STARS*.....ENJOY/DISFRUTELA! Any comments, questions or observations, in English or Español, are most welcome!

I have always been confused why this movie was so overlooked and forgotten through the years. Richard Dreyfuss gives a flawless performance as the former sculpture, now a quadriplegic, wanting not for anyone to kill or hurt him, just to let him die on his own. John Cassavetes and Christine Lahti give powerful supporting performances as doctors wrestling with a patients wishes and their obligations a physicians. Best of all the script and direction avoid making this a long drawn out downer of a drama and inject a surprising amount of humor. This helped the story out so much and made the issue of life and death more palatable. If there is one thing I didn't like about this movie was the character of Richard Dreyfuss' lawyer. His stammering through the film became extremely irritating and I think it was unnecessary and distracting. Aside from that, I could watch this movie over and over again. It made me laugh and cry and most of all think about how I would want to retain control of my life if I was in that situation.

i remember running into this film several times on TV but i've never actually watched it entirely until now. the movie is a very convincing plead for death. a man who argues with himself because nobody around him knows how to listen. very smart lines, a genuine Richard Dreyfuss, very intelligent (though sometimes dark) humor. i won't tell you more not to spoil the fun. a similar story (which now i think this movie inspired) you'll find in Alejandro amenabar's "mar adentro".since you find a lot of hollywoodian crap movies "flagged" 7.7 like "lucky number slevin" for example (which i think is a f...g aberation - who votes for these anyway? 4 votes at most not to consider the acting which is a total failure) i'd give this an 8 out of 10.it'll get you questioning about human reactions in desperate cases. i dearly recommend it to whoever hesitates seeing it and runs into this comment.

This movie moved me from horror to laughter to tears. I can't believe Richard Dreyfus doesn't remember doing this film. His performance was magnificent. He was so believable in playing this role of a quadriplegic. This movie pulled me in to it and wouldn't let me go until the end. If they ever try to do a remake, I believe it may be hard to fill in this role with just any other actor. I compared it to the movie "million dollar baby". Each was special in it's own way, in one, you spend more time getting to know the person before her accident while the other with Richard Dreyfus, you didn't get to know him very well until after his accident which happens right near the beginning. By the way, that special effects car accident was spectacular.