TRAUMA CENTRE
Directed by: Matt Eskandari
Starring: Nicky Whelan, Bruce Willis, Steve Guttenberg,
When a young waitress called Madison takes out the trash one night, she not only collides with a dying man but is shot in the leg by his attackers. In the hospital, Madison is informed by Detective Wakes that the dead man was his partner. Not only that, but the bullet lodged in her thigh could prove significant in identifying the shooters.
In order to protect her, Wakes has Madison hidden in a room on the deserted 7th floor of the hospital. However, the two assailants are themselves cops, and use their authority and Madison's isolation to their advantage, cutting off the floor while they search for her…
Over the past decade, you can probably count on one hand the number of times Bruce Willis has managed to register a pulse in any of his films. Seemingly happy to step in to a small role and let movies utilise his name and image on the posters, for what that's worth these days. However, I am glad to say that this is one of those times where he plays a more active role and is able to pump some emotion into his performance. That doesn't necessarily mean it’s a good thing…
Set in San Paolo, TRAUMA CENTRE's main protagonist is Madison Taylor, who moved there a short while ago with her younger sister after the traumatic death of their mother. Madison took the situation particularly badly and hates going to hospitals as a result - even when her sister, Emily, has an asthma attack and needs to stay overnight…
Whilst taking out the trash one night, an injured man stumbles into her and dies, and shortly after two men hidden in the shadows shoot at her, hitting her in the leg. Luckily police sirens can be heard, getting closer, so the two men run off.
At the hospital, Madison is interviewed by Detective Wakes, who informs her the dead man was his partner, and that the bullet lodged in her thigh could prove to be a crucial piece of evidence. The killers think so also, as they are in fact corrupt vice cops and the shooter's bullet was fired from his service weapon.
Madison is put in a room on an empty floor of the hospital and given an armed officer for protection However the two corrupt cops, Sgt Tull and Det Pierce, use their position as cops to further isolate Madison so they can get hold of her.
The film then turns into a game of cat-and-mouse. Madison trying her best to outsmart the cops and keep hidden. This is a really decent, tense part of the film and it has moments of levity as Madison manages to use elements of her environment to set little traps - electrocuting a door handle using a defibrillator for example.
Bruce Willis is definitely putting in a different type of performance than we've seen in so many of his other DTV work of late. However it is still a one-note performance: he's acting all annoyed and constipated the whole time, half shouting his lines at his fellow cast members. Still, he's better than usual, forced to actually move around, appear in different locations and even gets into a fight and a shoot out. However the main draw here is Nicky Whelan as Madison, a resourceful young woman who manages to struggle through her situation even with a wounded leg - and worse. Of the two, it's she who looks more capable of surviving Nakatomi Plaza…
THE VERDICT
Trauma Centre is a decent enough thriller using an isolated location and a plucky heroine to good effect. For once Bruce Willis is a bit more than the usual window dressing and although he doesn't interact with the protagonist much he does have a reasonable storyline.
7 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)