by Tim Peters

Created on: November 13, 2009

The 1997 HBO movie Breast Men has been largely forgotten for a number of reasons. It was advertised as a dark comedy when it's actually more of a light docudrama. And its subject matter relegated it to late-night airings. And it starred David Schwimmer. And there's plenty of topless women with no other purpose than to appease viewers who mistook it for a late night softcore adult feature. The result is a movie with an identity crisis. It tries to be a documentary spoof, serious social commentary, biting satire, and campy T & A flick all at once. While making a passable attempt on all four counts, the lack of focus is also what keeps Breast Men from being more than a curiosity.

The movie opens as you'd expect: with a woman taking her top off. She complains about her breasts in the first of a series of intriguing interviews which pop up periodically throughout the movie. After this, the story proper begins with Kevin Saunders (Schwimmer), a plastic surgery intern who is obsessed with women's breasts. Initially insecure about interning with his supervising surgeon, Dr. William Larson (Chris Cooper), he comes around when he comes up with the idea of developing breast implants. What follows is a classic story of struggle, success, hubris, and falling from grace - with the history of breast augmentation surgery as a backdrop.

Like a famous band, Saunders and Larson eventually split up and go their separate ways. Both men prove to be seriously flawed in different ways; Larson as the brilliant philanthropist with a god complex, Saunders as the jilted former student looking to one-up his former teacher. Both men enjoy some good times and bad, and history eventually offers both men a deus ex machina after nearly destroying their careers. It's a simple story, but somehow it all gets lost in all the different directions the movie tries to take.

The lack of focus is unfortunate, because there are so many standout moments in this movie. And so many of them are ruined by not knowing how to put them all together in a coherent package. For example, the penultimate scene in the movie is a montage where Saunders presents his completely shameless business scheme based on replacing silicon implants to irritated but willing patients. It's a vicious lampoon of a selfish act presented under the most paper-thin guise of altruism, and one of the best parts of the whole movie. But it's followed by an absurdly cartoonish ending. Breast Men gets so many chances to capture the audience's

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