Coma – DVD Review

Comas have mystified the world for decades now. Doctors are able to usually determine what may cause them and if a person will ever be able to recover from them, but not all is known about comas just yet. There are really no explanations as to why someone may miraculously wake up after two days, two weeks, or even twenty years of being in a vegetative state. Cases have shocked and confused those in the medical field when someone may be pronounced technically brain dead, but then wake up hours later and speak as if they had simply been asleep for a good night’s rest. Still, just because there is success or hope for the cases of some who are in comas; that hope doesn’t exist for all.

So little is known by the general public as to the severity of some comatose states and what troubles they can bring along. A lot of people think that a person could slip into a coma due to drugs, a traumatic head injury, stroke, and numerous other things. The coma may last long enough for doctors to monitor a person’s status and declare that they will never awaken from their long sleep. Other cases provide enough proof and information to say someone will awake in just a few hours or a couple days. Most people think that after someone awakens from a coma, then they can simply go right back into resuming their normal lives. Anyone who has been in a coma or knows someone who has been in one, knows the truth.

The Center for Head Injuries at JFK Medical Center is one of the best known centers fro treating patients in a comatose state in the entire country. As stated verbatim from Coma: “This film follows four patients who emerge from comas. Over the course of one year, they will emerge into either a persistent vegetative state, a minimally conscious state, or beyond.”

It is the first year that is a truly critical time for the recovery of consciousness in a majority of patients because after that time, the window for improvement begins to close. Tom, Roxi, Sean, and Al’Khan are the four patients whose lives are dictated in this feature and their condition is followed closely in hopes they will find their way back into redeeming total consciousness.

Tom is a 31-year-old sales manager that sustained a head injury after falling from a balcony. He woke up and is in a semi-conscious state as the JFK Center performs numerous tests on his brain to discover and develop the levels of consciousness that Tom has and can achieve. Tom seems to just lay there and stare at everything around him while his family tries to generate something in his mind by talking to him, reliving memories, and just being there. A look of sadness is in his eyes at all time even if it isn’t meant to be.

Roxi is a 19-year-old college student that suffered a serious brain injury from a car accident. She is in a wheelchair most of the time and seems to have constant convulsions even going as far as needing a cushion around her right hand which could possibly be so she doesn’t hurt it or her head. Her friends and family try to talk to her and just get some kind of reaction from her, and a lot of times it looks as if she is smiling even though she may not be looking at anything. It is really hard seeing her friend Joan in the room with her because she doesn’t have any clue how to act seeing Roxi in that state. Hope does look imminent there with her recognizing items and even trying to speak.

Sean is a 20-year-old college student that got into his condition after being assaulted and thrown off a bridge while studying in Europe. Sean is awake but doctors have been trying since his injury (over a year as of this recording) to determine whether he is in a vegetative state or a minimally conscious state. There are no clear signs pointing in either direction although there are signs of hope that he can recover. Seeing his parents watch the physical therapists work with him and the tears in his mother’s eyes is extremely difficult.

Al’Khan is a 26-year-old father and restaurant worker that sustained a brain injury from a car accident. The accident happened ten months ago as of this recording, and for eight months, Al’Khan has been in a minimally conscious state. He does nothing but blink and stare no matter if something is in front of his eyes or to his left and right. It just appears as if he has no idea as to what is going on around him. Some name and face recognition has happened, but not often. Al’Khan’s condition is also difficult to watch considering he is just laying there.

After initial introductions to the patients, the film follows along their progress over the course of a year. Tom is defiant and wants to be out of his wheelchair. Roxi continues to recognize different items. Sean keeps down both paths and it is hard to tell if he is doing better or has no improvement at all. Al’Khan shows signs, but also keeps staring and only looking around very little. Each case shows improvement and also delivers some backtracking as well.

It isn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination to watch this film/documentary. Seeing full grown human beings in states that mimic that of newborns isn’t disturbing in a sense, but just heart-wrenching. I found it particularly difficult watching the families and loved ones of the patients try to be strong while seeing their sons or daughters or fathers just try to recognize everyday objects like a brush or a hammer. Yet the opposite is also true while viewing Coma when the patients start to speak more or tell their parents they love them. Those moments give me warm feelings and actually make me feel hope for these people I’ve never met and never will. No matter what though, ninety percent of the film fills me with dread because I can’t imagine how I’d react if this ever happened to anyone in my life. All that can be done is to wish these families nothing but the best and hope as close to a full recovery as possible is the future.

The film is shown in 1.33:1 Full Screen format and it looks fine. It is mostly news footage and what looks like handheld video camera work, but it still is perfectly acceptable. All the colors are bright and no distortion or any problems are noticeable.

The film is heard in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Sound and it is evidently all that is needed for this DVD which is 95% dialogue. All can be heard well without any volume problems.

The Case Of Willie Hicks – This feature showcases on Willie Hicks who was a patient in a coma at JFK Medical Center. Clocking in at just shy of eighteen minutes, it takes a look at his journey back to normalcy and actually shows a much “happier ending” story then those in the main feature.

Coma is a 102 minute-long emotional rollercoaster. These patients are people I know nothing about except for what has been presented to me in this documentary and I’ll probably never know any more about them, but it can’t be helped feeling close to them. I want them to persevere, want them to recover, and want these horrible occurrences to have never happened to a single one of them. The special features on the DVD are actually just one showing another case, but it is just as heart-moving as the other four stories. The only problem with Coma is that the replay value is extremely low simply because…well, I don’t know how many times any of you can watch this on a repeated basis. My heart just can’t stand this kind of emotional strain to ever even attempt putting this DVD back in my player again. It is a great look inside this world that many never know anything about, but it’s also a traumatic display of the horrible things that can come in this world. Coma is wonderful and horrible all at the same time, and it is something that everyone should see and then never watch again.

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HBO Home Video presents Coma. Directed by: Liz Garbus. Running time: 102 minutes. Rating: Not Rated. Released on DVD: January 29, 2008. Available at Amazon.com