Twilight (2008)

If you are looking for a Hollywood depiction of how to perform a lousy pupil exam, look no further than the teen Vampire romance Twilight. After nearly being struck by an out-of-control van, we see our heroine Bella Swan being evaluated in the emergency room. The doc working in the ER does a cursory penlight pupil exam, presumably checking for anisocoria (unequal pupil size) in the setting of possible head trauma.

I can't really criticize the depiction of this exam for two reasons. First, the doc is actually protagonist Edward Cullen's father, and he pretty much knows that his son rescued Bella from any harm. His exam is more about appearances and going through the motions. Second, in my experience, this type of quick and poorly performed eye evaluation is, unfortunately, quite typical in the emergency room setting. Note the doctor's improper instruction for Bella to fixate on his hand near her face, which would stimulate her accommodative pupil response. Further, he assesses the direct pupillary response bilaterally, but fails completely to perform the essential Marcus Gunn pupil exam. The viewer is referred here for instructions on how to properly perform and document the pupil exam.

As a movie, though, Twilight is a triumph of casting, and manages to achieve a good balance between teen romance and semi-action flick. I particularly liked the first half and the well-acted awkwardness by Bella. This one gets a B from me. Let's hope for some more ophthalmology content in the sequels!

Blindness (2008)

If At First Sight is the Citizen Kane of ophthalmology movies, Blindness weighs in as The Battleship Potemkin. Mark Ruffalo portrays an ophthalmologist, and his wife, played by Julianne Moore, is the protagonist. The movie is based on Nobel prize-winner Jose Saramago's compelling (but puncutation-challenged) novel about epidemic blindness that suddenly sweeps through a large city.

Early scenes revolving around this mysterious affliction depict the ophthalmologist examining one of the patients with a slit lamp, and performing keratometry. The film treats the viewer with other scenes from the ophthalmologist's office, including refraction of an amblyopic boy, and administration of eyedrops to a young woman with bilateral conjunctivitis. Later in the movie, a Braille typewriter is used by a nefarious member of the tyrannical Ward 3. I'll try to avoid delivering too many spoilers, but obviously there are other numerous depictions of blindness and low vision throughout.

Like the movie At First Sight, an interesting premise and loads of eye-related content do not necessarily guarantee an enjoyable film. Pacing was erratic, and despite an excellent cast, much of the acting came off as overly theatrical. In addition, the intrusive and incongruous soundtrack proved distracting. As a bonus, however, the film did show a whippet on screen for three seconds as a blind person's companion dog. Including a beloved sighthound in your movie is a sure way to score points with this reviewer. Blindness gets a C + from me.

I would be interested in hearing other opinions about this movie, both from those who have read the novel and those who have not!