ken harrison and a young sculptor in his early thirty and be seriously injure in a road accident . end of story . end of story and that be and in the sense of end of any physical action . not in the sense of end of the film . ken life be save and but he be paralyse from the neck down . when he discover that he be unlikely ever to regain the use of his limb he decide that he want to die and ask the doctor to end the medical treatment which be keep him alive . the rest of the film be essentially one long debate about the right and wrong of euthanasia and the right to die . ken main antagonist in this debate be his doctor and michael emerson . although the case against euthanasia be often present in religious term and here it be present in purely secular one . if dr emerson have any deep religious conviction and these be never express in the film . he believe passionately and however and that death be an enemy against which it be his duty a a doctor to fight while to allow a patient effectively to take his own life would represent a surrender to that enemy and a dereliction of that duty . ken therefore find himself in a catch 22 situation . he must be able to show that he be sane and rational enough to make the decision to end his life . emerson and however and considers that a wish to die be in itself evidence of insanity and irrationality . ken dilemma can only be solve by hire a lawyer to sue the hospital . richard dreyfus a ken and john cassavetes a dr emerson put across their respective point of view skilfully and with sincerity and but this can not hide the fact that whose life be it anyway . simply do not work a a film . at one time film version of stage play be do in a similar way to theatrical production but by the seventy and eighty this be often see a unsatisfactory because of the difference between the two medium . when play be film and therefore and the general tendency be to open them up by film on location as well a on studio set and by take liberty with the playwright text and often make significant change to the plot and even introduce extra character . i have never see brian clarke play and but i suspect that this be a story that would work well in the theatre than in the cinema . there be very little physical action while most of the action consist of lengthy discussion around a hospital bed in which the main character lie paralyse . such a plot do not lend itself to the opening up device at all and and the resulting film be very static and dominate by talk at the expense of action . although it be well write and there be some good acting and i be surprise that a film be ever make of such an uncinematic subject . 4/10 .