Willy Jenkins (Jason Scott Campbell) and his greedy and cynical roommate Cameron Streckman (Alex Feldman) have just finished the medical school and are traveling together before starting residence. While driving through a country town where Willy spent his childhood, they stop for resting and having meal, and they hear an intriguing story about the strength of the retired physician and Willy's acquaintance Dr. Daniel Green (Bill Cobbs). They become curious and go to Dr. Green's farm where they meet the old man, who tells them that he lives alone with his sick wife and invites them to have dinner with him. While eating chili and drinking beer, Dr. Green tells the story about a miraculous Chinese medicine that he has been using for years, awakening greed in the ambitious Cameron with fatal consequences.
The low-budget "The Final Patient" develops and builds in low pace an intriguing story about an old good family man and physician, who misses his lost son Nathan and lives with his sick wife. There is an excellent criticism to the behavior of most doctors in North America that could be extended to many other countries where a great number of these professionals are mercenaries and interested only in making money. The performances, the screenplay and the direction are excellent regarding Dan, Cameron and Willy, but simply forget the key character of Elizabeth Green. Suddenly, this mysterious woman appears like an insane murder, trying to kill everybody and destroy her house without any clear explanation. My interpretation is that she was kept alive by her beloved husband against her will; then she becomes insane and addicted in the Chinese formula, triggering her murder instinct in the end, but I am not sure about the correctness of my viewpoint. Further, I do not know if the problem was with the script or restraining budget, but unfortunately something was missing regarding the development of the motives of Mrs. Green to make "The Final Patient" a great little film. My vote is five.
Title (Brazil): "O Último Paciente" ("The Last Patient")
