Bigger than Life
A punchy, clever, subversive affair, 'Bigger than Life' charts the decline of a teacher who becomes addicted to a miracle, newly-developed drug, (the film is set in the late 1950s). At the start of the film, Ed Avery (the peerless James Mason) is a middle class, happily married teacher, albeit one with a few money problems. In an effort to make ends meet, he works as a dispatcher in a cab unit, until a heart scare puts him on a strict diet and a wonder drug. Things threaten to return to normal for our hero, but it soon becomes clear that the drug has rather intense side effects, which evoke some long-buried frustrations and undermine his entire existence.
A cautionary, veiled attack on the dangers of utter social conformation, characterised by the middle class, 'Bigger than Life' also bravely captures the escalating dehabilitation of any addiction. In a career of great performances, James Mason is particularly good, taking the character on a believable, if morally extreme, voyage in which everything from family values to classroom fascism are explored. Extraordinary in that it explores such a wide variety of topics and even dares to question faith (unheard of in the mid 1950s), 'Bigger than Life' should be seen.
