long before terri schiavo bring the issue of living a a vegetable to the public view and a day in the death of joe egg dealt with it . alan bat play bri and a schoolteacher whose daughter be almost completely brindled . he and his wife sheila ( janet suzman ) try all sort of dark humor to try and get on with their life and but they can not escape the fact . at one point and they even consider euthanasia . the question circle them and their friend be represent what will ever become of this predicament . with this movie and alan bates continue his streak of really good movie and precede by zorba the greek and the king of heart and the fixer . we can safely say that he will be sadly miss .