The Clinic

I loved the movie The Clinic. It was so good. I had never seen it before. It was shown on T.V. on September 4th, 2006 in Winnipeg, Manitoba where I live. I think it should be made into a series. It would be an excellent way for people to understanding how vets work and what they need to do to keep in operation. The story line was great. The way they left the movie it wouldn't take much to continue the story line and to find out if the new vet hooks up with Emma or if Dr. Gachet has to give up his clinic because of the city codes etc. There is so much there to make into at least a couple of seasons worth of shows. Mike Ferrell has been a vet before in the show Providence and I thought he was great there too.

This is an original, Made-for-TV movie produced by the ANIMAL PLANET channel.

Mike Farrell runs an animal clinic in the country. He has experience and skill. Enter an intern from vet school needing a job.

THE CLINIC seems to be cast from the mold of "ER" -- the new bumbling intern learns from the experienced masters, hand held camera views, the uniforms, the blood, the high tech beeping medical machine sounds, medical terms being banted about, the spicy co-ed work environment, doctor / family conflicts, the "high stakes drama," etc.

Mike Farrell is the lead vet in more ways than one. There are some other familiar TV actors. If you already know and love Dr. Ross and Dr. Greene, you are sure to feel at home watching the animal trauma action here. THE CLINIC is an easy to watch, if a bit predictable, made-for-TV medical drama.

Low key made-for-TV effort looks like a pilot episode for a series that never eventuated with Mike Farrell as the sometimes challenging, but committed vet of a small, high demand veterinary clinic where intern Jonathan Scarfe comes to take on his first work assignment. Trouble is, the clinic is being threatened with closure for maintenance standard breaches, and Scarfe is supposed to be relocating with his girlfriend whose got a job in another city. Predictably, the various story lines intersect at the film's climax.

Scarfe and Farrell develop an almost father and son like relationship, the kind where one is passively challenged to surpass the other's limited expectations, but given the chance to succeed or fold. Attractive former teen leading lady Ione Skye has the role of the sexy female vet with whom Scarfe would surely end up in one of those on-again, off-again relationships, had the TV movie spawned a series. Bruce Davison is also on hand as the concerned father of an injured cat.

It's an urban "All Creatures Great and Small" fused with "ER", that probably could have made a minor impression with families had it become a series. Canadian locations and acting are serviceable, while screenwriter Charles Martin Smith ("American Graffiti) holds the soap for a couple of sentimental TV moments, disappointments, mild action and the usual hope and destiny conclusion.

"Animal Clinic" is an excellent movie and I would highly recommend it to any animal lover. Mike Ferrell's character as Dr. Cyrus Gachet is a likable character. His kindness and compassion, along with his unorthodox methods will warm your heart. Even the music in the movie will make you teary-eyed as you see the loving, four-legged friends being treated for a variety of things. I think veterinarians are incredible people. They must live with a roller-coaster of emotions, from the joy of making a pet well again to the sorrow of having to put a pet down. They experience this every day. Watch "Animal Clinic" and you'll appreciate the work veterinarians do...and you'll love your pets even more!