MovieChat Forums > Switchback (1997) Discussion > Doctor dies?

Doctor dies?

posted 21 years ago by jakeosaur99
13 replies | jump to latest

Presumably, the doctor dies? I know it's not shown, but I was curious if anyone had a good reason to believe otherwise. I know he's a young doctor, but he was losing a lot of blood and was pretty cold. On the other hand, he did seem to have a surprising amount of energy to remove the cap from that Sharpie.

Imagine losing a lot of blood, being very cold and laying on the ground, then reaching to grab a Sharpie from the officer's shirt pocket and remove the cap. That requires a lot of dexterity for someone on the verge of death.

Maybe there's a book or some information I missed?

-jake

[–] Marley2 21 years ago

The doctor (Lane Dixon) doesn't die. The only reason the audience could get confused is b/c he writes the detective's son's whereabouts with a sharpie. The reason he did that was b/c he couldn't speak and knew that the agent wanted to find his son and soon.

[–] lionphish 21 years ago

That still doesn't tell us wether he survived or not. And how did he know where to find the son? The reason I ask is because I only saw the second half of the movie.

"Take Your Time, Leave Mine Alone!"

[–] mikesh 21 years ago

Bob told the doctor while they were riding together. He mentioned his own son and the doc deduced that he really was talking about Quaid's son.

[–] lionphish 21 years ago

Ok thanks.

"Take Your Time, Leave Mine Alone!"

[–] humiliated_grapes-1 19 years ago

My opinion is... if Jared dies in a movie (which happens often) it's shown. If he gets mangled and doesn't die, you see him mangled but never after that (I haven't seen every movie he's in so I'm sure there are exceptions). If he lives, unharmed... it's just weird.

Overall, in this movie I got the feeling he lives. The medics are there, they say he's lost a lot of blood and has hypothermia, but they don't seem overly concerned about his health (like OMG we have to get him to a hospital now).

Yeah that's me, and I'm really bored so I'm posting random things. Sorry.

[–] smp2006 18 years ago

I agree with this comment. The trend definitely works with Jared's past movies. xD

[–] countessofole 15 years ago

Haha, humiliated_grapes-1, your post makes me snicker cause it's so true. Especially the part where you say "If he lives, unharmed... it's just weird." I've seen him in so many movies and in only one did he live (mostly) unharmed... although he did get bopped in the head with the flat side of an axe, so does that count? haha...

I like to think he survived in this movie, but they don't say one way or the other, so I don't know. It did seem pretty obvious that he was physically incapable of talking after getting his throat cut. He had to write the address down because writing was his only mode of communication at that point. And he wrote it right then because the Sheriff and Quaid were talking about Quaid's son. Leto put two and two together, figured that the address Glover gave him earlier was where Quaid's kid was being kept and wanted to let Quaid know "Oh hey... I know where your kid is. Stop worrying."

I hope our little game isn't causing you to perspire.

[–] ragreen259 18 years ago

"Presumably, the doctor dies? I know it's not shown, but I was curious if anyone had a good reason to believe otherwise."

Well, my basic reason for assuming otherwise is, they didn't show him die. Why would you assume someone who was wounded died, automatically? What purpose would it serve to the plot? None.

[–] susie-110 18 years ago

I agree. If something is not shown or hinted, didn´t happen.

[–] der-basstian 17 years ago

leto's character was wounded seriously in the middle of nowhere, got extremely cold and lost blood for hours. he knew he was gonna die and that it was his last chance to tell anyone about the 9988-something-adress he got to know from the killer. realizing this also gave him the power to remove the cap of the pen and write down the address even with half his throat cut.

and if the direcor wanted us to believe that he survived, it would have perfectly fitted the happy ending if there was an hospuital-scene or something... no seriously, the doc's dead.

[–] swaggoner151 16 years ago

He may have died, but he had a lot going for him medically. If he didn't bleed out right away, a major artery probably wasn't hit. It was extremely cold and that helps slow down the bleeding. Good chance he could have lived.
You scorpion woman!Ron Burgundy

[–] hayes-29 14 years ago

Just watched now on TV - the doctor character is lucid and just unable to speak right then and there.

There's a helicopter etc. attending - he makes it.

If he was to die it would've been shown.

[–] davidwile 11 years ago

Hey folks,

I have to agree with swaggoner151 and hayes-29 for a couple of reasons. If Bob had cut either of the jugular veins or the carotid arteries in the kid's neck, the kid would have bled out in thirty seconds, and that would be the end of him. It appeared that Bob may have simply cut into the kid's larynx which would produce the effects shown: difficulty with speech and relatively minor bleeding. Such minor bleeding would look very bad to most folks, but would not be too difficult to control with applied pressure.

Lastly, I think Bob may have only intended to make a minor cut to the kid's throat. I think Bob may have intended for the kid to live so the kid would tell Frank LaCrosse where he could find his son. Remember that Bob told LaCrosse that he would tell him where his son was only if LaCrosse killed him. Bob told the kid about the missing son, and when LaCrosse killed Bob, the kid was able to complete the bargain.

That's the way I saw it.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile