Dying Young
Encyclopedia
Dying Young is a 1991 American romance film
, directed by Joel Schumacher
. It is based on a novel of the same name by Marti Leimbach
, and stars Julia Roberts
and Campbell Scott
with Vincent D'Onofrio
, Colleen Dewhurst
and Ellen Burstyn
. The original music score was composed by James Newton-Howard.
) is a pretty, outgoing yet cautious young woman who has had little luck in work or love. After recently parting ways with her boyfriend when she caught him cheating, Hilary finds herself living with her eccentric mother (Ellen Burstyn
).
One day, Hilary answers an ad in a newspaper for a nurse only to find herself being escorted out before the interview starts.
Victor Gettes (Campbell Scott
) is a well-educated, rich, and shy 28 year-old. As the film progresses, Victor's health worsens progressively, due to leukemia
. Despite his father's protests, Victor hires Hilary to be his live-in caretaker while he undergoes a traumatic course of chemotherapy
. Hillary becomes insecure of her ability to care for Victor after her first exposure to the side effects of his chemotherapy treatment. She studies about leukemia and stocks healthier food in the kitchen.
He is "finished" with his chemotherapy
and suggests they take a vacation to the coast. They rent a house and she begins to feel that she's no longer needed to care for him. They fall in love and continue living at the coast.
He's hiding his use of morphine to kill the pain. During dinner with one of the friends they made there Victor starts acting aggressively and irrationally. Victor collapses and is helped to bed. She searches the garbage and discovers his used syringes. She confronts him and he admits he wasn't finished with his chemotherapy. He explains that he wants quality in his life and she says that he's been "lying" to her.
She calls his Father and he comes to take him home but he wants to stay for one last (Christmas) party. Hilary and Victor reconnect at the party and he tells her that he is leaving with his father to go back to the hospital in the morning. After speaking with Victor's father who says Victor wants to spend one night alone before leaving, Hilary goes back to the house they rented only to find Victor packing clothes, ready to run away and not go with his father to the hospital. Hilary confronts him about running away and Victor admits that he's afraid of hoping. At this confession, Hilary finally tells Victor she loves him and they then decide to go back to the hospital where he will "fight" for his life with Hilary. The last frame of the movie shows Victor and Hilary leaving the house, which has a small picture of Gustav Klimt's "Adam and Eve" (the first painting Victor shows Hilary) in the window.
Romance film
Romance films are love stories that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story or the search for love the main plot focus...
, directed by Joel Schumacher
Joel Schumacher
Joel T. Schumacher is an American film director, screenwriter and producer.-Early life:Schumacher was born in New York City, the son of Marian and Francis Schumacher. His mother was a Swedish Jew, and his father was a Baptist from Knoxville, Tennessee, who died when Joel was four years old...
. It is based on a novel of the same name by Marti Leimbach
Marti Leimbach
Marti Leimbach is an American fiction writer. Her first novel, Dying Young , was an international bestseller and the basis of the film, Dying Young, starring Julia Roberts, Campbell Scott and Vincent D'Onofrio....
, and stars Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts
Julia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman , which grossed $464 million worldwide...
and Campbell Scott
Campbell Scott
Campbell Scott is an American actor, director, producer, and voice artist.-Life and career:Scott was born in New York City, the son of George C. Scott, an actor, director, and producer, and Colleen Dewhurst, a Canadian-born actress. He graduated from Lawrence University in 1983. His brother is...
with Vincent D'Onofrio
Vincent D'Onofrio
Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio is an American actor, director, film producer, writer, and singer. Often referred to as an actor's actor, his work as a character actor has earned him the nickname of "Human Chameleon"...
, Colleen Dewhurst
Colleen Dewhurst
Colleen Rose Dewhurst was a Canadian-American actress known for a while as "the Queen of Off-Broadway." In her autobiography, Dewhurst wrote: "I had moved so quickly from one Off-Broadway production to the next that I was known, at one point, as the 'Queen of Off-Broadway'...
and Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn is a leading American actress of film, stage, and television. Burstyn's career began in theatre during the late 1950s, and over the next ten years she appeared in several films and television series before joining the Actors Studio in 1967...
. The original music score was composed by James Newton-Howard.
Plot
Hilary O'Neil (Julia RobertsJulia Roberts
Julia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman , which grossed $464 million worldwide...
) is a pretty, outgoing yet cautious young woman who has had little luck in work or love. After recently parting ways with her boyfriend when she caught him cheating, Hilary finds herself living with her eccentric mother (Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn is a leading American actress of film, stage, and television. Burstyn's career began in theatre during the late 1950s, and over the next ten years she appeared in several films and television series before joining the Actors Studio in 1967...
).
One day, Hilary answers an ad in a newspaper for a nurse only to find herself being escorted out before the interview starts.
Victor Gettes (Campbell Scott
Campbell Scott
Campbell Scott is an American actor, director, producer, and voice artist.-Life and career:Scott was born in New York City, the son of George C. Scott, an actor, director, and producer, and Colleen Dewhurst, a Canadian-born actress. He graduated from Lawrence University in 1983. His brother is...
) is a well-educated, rich, and shy 28 year-old. As the film progresses, Victor's health worsens progressively, due to leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
. Despite his father's protests, Victor hires Hilary to be his live-in caretaker while he undergoes a traumatic course of chemotherapy
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....
. Hillary becomes insecure of her ability to care for Victor after her first exposure to the side effects of his chemotherapy treatment. She studies about leukemia and stocks healthier food in the kitchen.
He is "finished" with his chemotherapy
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....
and suggests they take a vacation to the coast. They rent a house and she begins to feel that she's no longer needed to care for him. They fall in love and continue living at the coast.
He's hiding his use of morphine to kill the pain. During dinner with one of the friends they made there Victor starts acting aggressively and irrationally. Victor collapses and is helped to bed. She searches the garbage and discovers his used syringes. She confronts him and he admits he wasn't finished with his chemotherapy. He explains that he wants quality in his life and she says that he's been "lying" to her.
She calls his Father and he comes to take him home but he wants to stay for one last (Christmas) party. Hilary and Victor reconnect at the party and he tells her that he is leaving with his father to go back to the hospital in the morning. After speaking with Victor's father who says Victor wants to spend one night alone before leaving, Hilary goes back to the house they rented only to find Victor packing clothes, ready to run away and not go with his father to the hospital. Hilary confronts him about running away and Victor admits that he's afraid of hoping. At this confession, Hilary finally tells Victor she loves him and they then decide to go back to the hospital where he will "fight" for his life with Hilary. The last frame of the movie shows Victor and Hilary leaving the house, which has a small picture of Gustav Klimt's "Adam and Eve" (the first painting Victor shows Hilary) in the window.