Breast Men


Breast Men is a 1997 American semibiographical dark comedy-drama television film written by John Stockwell and directed by Lawrence O'Neil for HBO.

Plot

Dr. Kevin Saunders and Dr. William Larson pioneer the usage of silicone breast implants. Saunders comes up with the idea of the breast implant. Larson tries to dissuade him, but eventually comes around. Saunders and Larson gain immense financial success as cosmetic breast augmentation surgeries rise in acceptance and frequency in American culture, but follow different life paths thereafter: Dr. Saunders becoming a narcissist interested in developing and implanting the exaggeratedly larger-sized types of implants popular with a mostly erotic dancer and female porn-star clientele, often having sex and doing drugs with them. Doctor Larson, Saunders's former mentor and business partner, is portrayed as continuing to pursue a more serious, clinical approach. Complications arise with the implants and the doctors are sued, leading to their fall from grace. Larson dies in his home of a heart attack and Saunders dies when his car crashes into a lorry as his attention wanders when he looks at a woman's breasts.

Cast

The film very loosely tracks the history of the real-life breast implant phenomenon, from its radical introduction through its widespread popularity. The movie continues to the Food and Drug Administration's determination that silicone implants cause various illnesses and cancers, spawning federal regulations that forced the industry to switch to saline implants. The story is interspersed with interview snippets of women from the 1970s who underwent breast augmentations with varying degrees of success, including their likes and dislikes about them. The interviews are marked by the fact that they show only the interviewees' nude breasts and torso.
In reality, silicone implants were developed by Texas-based plastic surgeons Drs. Frank Gerow and Thomas Cronin.

Production

Much of the filming was done in Galveston, Texas, and includes numerous interior and exterior shots of historic Star Drug, a drug store and soda fountain with a distinctive vintage ceramic Coca-Cola sign displayed over its front door. Star Drug burned in 1998 but has since been rebuilt. Limited footage is shown, as well, of the University of Texas Medical Branch campus.

Reception

The film was released to mixed reviews.