vfrickey OK, these folks had a cast of good actors - in fact there are some pleasant surprises in that department, enough to make this a slightly better than average film. More on that later.The screenplay and direction... well, it seems sometimes that any laughs in this thing were accidental - what may have been intended to be the big jokes fall flat, leaving incidental chances for levity. Very occasional chances until well into the film - so hang in there, people, it does get better.What excuse does the director offer for this film? If you're going to do accent and ethnic humor, DO it. Don't hire Alan Arkin, then let him sleepwalk through an acting job - make him ACT, more than he did in the first half of this film. Beat him if you must, but do it. Don't let him be a walking ad for Ambien. Good points? Steve Guttenberg actually surprised me on this one - he did an excellent job of acting, up there with his opening scenes in "The Boys From Brazil" as the young amateur Nazi hunter. So did Gilbert Gottfried, for that matter - he's much better than I have seen him perform in his other films. Bill Macy puts in an honest job, much more than I can say of Arkin, who seems to phone his lines in.Production values? The camera-work's pretty good - they shot the film in Spain and decent professionals did the technical work, but the person responsible for the soundtrack should be shot for having a very heavy hand with the brass in the orchestra and stealing the guitarist from some backyard porn studio in Marin County.Yeah, you should watch it. It's worthwhile if you stick with the film until almost halfway through.

Pepper Anne 'Bad Medicine' is not one of the best med-students comedy that I have seen. It's method of comedy and hilarity wavers frequently, perhaps some of the jokes are just too subtle or perhaps they are too dated and the finished product reminds me of Young Doctors in Love, a movie full of stupid comedy that should be funnier but for some reason, just isn't.Steve Guttenberg plays Jeff Marx, a struggling first-year med student at a fourth-rate, sketchy medical school in Mexico. Classes are taught in Spanish, they all share one cadaver, and their praticioner field trips are little more than public relations opportunities. Despite the family trend of medical professionals, he is certain that he doesn't want to be a doctor, but the outrageous situations that ensue are about to make him reconsider. The ambitious students, which includes Curtis Armstrong as pharmacology expert, Dennis Gladstone, Julie Hagerty as the soft-spoken Liz Parker, Julie Kavner as the witty Cookie Katz, and Robert Ramanus as Carlos. Working cleverly under the nose of the self-involved school director, Dr. Ramón Madera (Alan Arkin), they seek to secretly help the town peasants with their medical ailments.The movie tends to drag on at points, but this particular comedy might be one of those 80s comedies best suited for lazy weekend 'noon viewings. If nothing else, viewers might be attracted to its fairly familiar cast, which also includes Gilbert Godfried (not doing his shtick) and my personal favorite, Taylor Negron as Pepe the Cab Driver (who ironically, also appeared in Young Doctors in Love).

soranno Steve Guttenberg, the comedic actor who hammed it up with such goofball roles in films like "Police Academy", "Short Circuit" and "Three Men And A Baby" has the lead in one of his few non-series films. Whew. It's a very good thing that a film this bad wasn't reduced to making sequels. One is bad enough.

tfrizzell Steve Guttenberg took some time off from his "Police Academy" films with this sleight comedy that has the youngster going to medical school in Mexico after being rejected all over the U.S. There are truly some really funny moments and there is enough interest built up to make the finale feel appropriate, even if it is somewhat forced. Watchable and not a total waste from the sorry genre that dominated the 1980s. 2.5 out of 5 stars.