Trailer for Inhale Explores Messy Results of 'Organ Tourism'
Ick. On a list of things that make me uneasy, the human organ black market would definitely be top five. Maybe Diane Kruger and Dermont Mulroney's characters in Inhale feel the exact same way. But their daughter needs a lung! They are somewhat wealthy, but not rich enough to bypass the waiting list in the U.S. And did I mention that their daughter is going to die without this lung? So it's a tough spot to begin with, but when Sam Shepard and Rosanna Arquette come along with some intriguing news about organ availability in Mexico, things start to get really messy.
There are several possible angles here: the morality involved (Where did these lungs come from?), the race against time for the daughter, the toll the decision takes on a marriage and the extreme danger that probably comes part-and-parcel with getting organs from Mexico. The trailer touches on all of these ideas without really ever settling on one. That's fine, I'm intrigued. But if the movie itself never settles, it could end up pretty overblown. I'm not sure we need the Traffic of illegal organs yet.
I also worry about the inherent melodrama of the subject matter. In the hands of the wrong director, this could easily veer into made-for-TV territory. Still, everything in the trailer seems on point, so let's give it the benefit of the doubt for now.
Verdict: Sold.
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This is the stuff movies are made of - Hollywood and the willing suspension of disbelief is alive and well - just watch and think about this trailer. A lung transplant in Mexico? Right. The writer didn't do enough research to learn that lung transplants are much more difficult and matching lungs is also far more difficult. If I were a wealthy Americano whose daughter needed a lung (and actually it is both lungs) transplant, I would double list my child (more than one transplant center) and I would make sure of the experience and success of the doctor/surgeon. How many transplants has he (this mysterious Dr.) performed, what is the success rate, can he connect me with multiple survivors of his transplants, where is recovery/aftercare to take place, who will follow the patient after transplant? All of these are important questions that aren't answered. Me? I wouldn't travel to Mexico for a lung transplant and I would have to think about whether I would trust a kidney transplant from there. Ah but drama sells tickets. I think this flick will go directly to video. Pity - there are so many important things to talk about with the subject of transplantation and the need for more donors.