There might be a good movie to be made about VA hospital neglect and mismanagement, but this certainly isn't it. The film has little to recommend it besides an attractive cast (all but invisible in their token, two-dimensional roles) and a screenplay written with obvious firsthand experience of medical red tape. Unfortunately, it was also written with every godawful comedy-drama cliché imaginable, making the film resemble a frustrated doctor's heroic third person fantasy of sex, action, gunfire, and bogus inspiration, none of it enough to distract viewers from the cardboard characters and strictly formula plot. Are all VA doctors this selfless, handsome, and good humored? And are all disabled veterans (including the maniac who drives his truck through the hospital lobby) so courageous and long-suffering? With a little more subtlety and black humor it might have been a worthwhile home front companion piece to Robert Altman's 'M*A*S*H*', but director Howard Deutch is more comfortable with crass exaggeration, limiting the film's appeal to an audience already force fed on a diet of TV ads and stale sitcoms.

Once upon a time in the Reagan administration, a cog in the cabinet discovered to his amazement that with all the US veterans floating out there from the abysmal failure in Vietnam, the sheer cost of treating them as they aged would skyrocket.Thus it was decided to abolish their problems. See in Bushist America we ignore any problem that we don't want to face.The movie brings up a valid point. The VA has failed in its mission. And the situation from the time the movie was released has worsened. With 80,000 in treatment from the latest war the issues raised by this movie are ones that need to be addressed.Regrettably by reading some hijinx from M * A * S * H into the civil service bureaucracy of the VA and creating a feel good ending the scriptwriters muted the very point they'd like to have made. I gave this a ******* 3 ******** for all its comic but unfunny unrealism. The movie compares with John Q for the unrealistic expectations foisted upon the viewer.It's betterto Tell it like it is than to pretend a social problem is getting better!

the greatest casualty may be due to Red Tape. Not only does this film benefit from some true TALENT in the acting department, but Howard Deutch does a great job of portraying the sad state of Veteran's Care in the US. No, this does not appear to be "based on a true story," but it is typical of what goes on in the VA Hospitals; as a former Army Medic (now a Service Connected Disabled Vet) I know whereof I speak. I highly recommend this film!

Article 99 displays a side of the medical profession seldom seen by society. The humor and over the top antics of the doctors, although extremely over done, are only the surface. Ray Liota's performance as the struggling ring leader of a rag tag group of vigilante doctors was not only strong, but honest. His ability to stay in character the entire time was a difficult feat, but he pulls it off sincerely. Kiefer Sutherland's performance was as equally well portrayed as Liota's, even though Sutherland's character is the polar opposite of Liota's. His portrayal of an upper class, arrogant, young intern was right on the money. However, it is not just their great performances, but the supporting cast is equally as fantastic. The dialogue is full of well written and delivered witty banter and the cast seem to play off each other well, but there is a serious under tone to the humor. The VA hospital in which all these caring individuals work is suffering badly from governmental cutbacks, a crooked administration and red tape as far as the eye can see. For those who are able to understand or "get this" film, it is a funny, poignant yet honest look at a different side of the medical field. In other words, this ain't ER or Chicago Hope, it's a whole new ball game.