Critical Care

A ghastly, modern-day variation on THE HOSPITAL that attempts to wring black comedy from the horrifying absurdities of modern medicine. Based on a highly acclaimed novel and directed by the estimable Sidney Lumet, who's never shied away from a big topic and rarely demonstrated much in the way of a sense of humor. (It's probably safe to credit the bulk of NETWORK's mordant wit to screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky.) Callow but vaguely well-intentioned second-year resident Dr. Werner Ernst (James Spader) foolishly gets himself caught up in the battle between half-sisters Felicia (Kyra Sedgwick) and Constance (Margo Martindale) Potter over the fate of their comatose father:...