Dying Young

Every time this movie comes on television, I sit in my bedroom and watch it from start to finish as if it was the first time I've seen it. It is a film that focuses on a man, Victor (Campbell) dying of leukemia and his internal struggles of wanting to be carefree and wanting total companionship from the Hillary (Roberts), the woman he hires to take care of him. Eventually, Victor wishes that he could be well so that Hillary can look at him in a different light; however, Victor cannot see pass his disease to allow anyone to be in his life including his dad and Hillary. He abruptly stops his chemotherapy to go live life and die; however, he does not seem to be living it since he so competitive and wanting to be better than anyone else. You want Victor to be cured of the disease and you want him to be less envious of the well people and to stop worrying about death and just live, which is the whole message of the film. Don't be afraid of death since we all will eventually die and no one knows exact time when death will wrapped them in his arm, which is a very powerful message. Great acting from Campbell and Julia. Great cast. Please watch this film and formulate your own opions.

As many other comments have said, this is a truly moving film. I had a friend who suffered from leukemia, but she didn't make it. All the despair, hope, and courage she displayed is displayed by Campbell Scott.

And Campbell Scott - what an actor, who has never made it "big", but perhaps he doesn't want to. My favorite comment I ever read about him is this: with George C. Scott and Colleen Dewhurst as his parents, this guy could run the Kentucky Derby and win.

Julia Roberts, way before Erin Brockovich, shows compassion and a resilience to helping Vincent. Of course we know that she will eventually fall in love with him, as he does with her.

I like that the movie ends in a "grey" area. We are left to wonder if Vincent makes it and if Hilary stays with him. Truly a well-made film that deserved more notice.

I guess I'm just not in the main stream. How can IMDb readers give Love Story (1970) a composite grade of 6.7 and Dying Young only 5.4. Julie Roberts is much, much better than Ali MacGraw (proof of who is the better actress is that MacGraw went literally nowhere, as she deserved, after Love Story while Roberts is still a star, an Oscar winner and a respected actress). The story line of both is somewhat predictable, but Dying Young has an infinitely better script. In Dying Young the viewer truly empathizes with the characters, while in Love Story, neither character is worth knowing. Only the most sentimental will tear up in Love Story, while Dying Young bring most to tears. While this does not mean that it is a great movie, it does mean that the characters are believable and well acted and the story line is good enough to overcome its somewhat predictable premise. Curl up with a loved one and a box of tissues. If you are at all the least bit sensitive you will like Dying Young.

My first complaint was that Vincent D'Onofrio was totally wasted in this role, although he brought some much needed life to this role. If they had fully developed Vincent'Onofrio's character then this could have been a beautiful and powerful triangle, but they wasted most of the supporting characters.

Campbell Scott was great as the young man dying of leukemia and gave a riveting performance as a young man who had never been able to fully live his life and groping for what he considers his last chance of happiness before dying.

Campbell Scott also has the courage to be unlikeable and at times arrogant rather than a plaster saint. His inability to connect and understand the simple friendship offered by Gordon(Vincent D'Onofrio) is almost painful to watch. He envies Gordon's easy openness and zest, and is also jealous of the way that Gordon effortlessly connects to JUlia Roberts character,Hilary.

The most poignant scene is when this young man of wealth, privilege, and education tries to relate with Gordon and Hilary who are getting a kick out of answering the questions to Jeopardy. He scores big on the questions that he studied in college, but grows more and more frustrated as Hilary and Gordon bond over their ordinary knowledge of TV shows-- like their singing the theme to Gilligan's Island. They are having fun, but Vincent can only see it as a competition.

In that moment he sees a world that he has never known and probably will never really get, and he lashes out at both of them. Gordon is hurt and puzzled and Hilary is torn between anger and understanding.

I wish that they had had Julia telling Gordon about how the character of Vincent was struggling with cancer, and having all three of them interact with each other bringing more depth to their struggles-- Vincent's jealousy of watching Hilary and Gordon interacting, and Gordon reaching out in friendship to help his new friend. It also would have given Hilary more insight into her emotions, and, when she made a choice it would have had more meaning.

Julia Roberts shows once again how she can take an ordinary script and turn it into a worthwhile flick. This is a great movie for one of those rainy afternoons when you don't mind a little tear here and there.No one in Hollywood can cry and hit you right in the gut like Julia. Along with Campbell Scott,who is dying from Leukemia, they both give believable performances and the music score is quite good.