TITLE: Zero Patience COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada DIRECTOR: John Greyson CAST: John Robinson, Normand Fauteux, Dianne Heatherington AVAILABLE ON VIDEO: YES

"How do I want to be remembered? A photo on my mother's fridge...a slide on George's window." -Zero (Normand Fauteux) If you've read or seen "AND THE BAND PLAYED ON" you're already familiar with the politicking and ego building/busting going on in the AIDS 'industry'. You'll also be familiar with the AIDS victim known as PATIENT ZERO, a Canadian airline steward who was labelled as the first possible carrier of HTLV III to North America. Unfortunately, the research of the day was hasty and flawed and recent information would indicate that this was not the case. In ZERO PATIENCE, writer/director John Greyson has used the Musical Comedy genre to show just how ludicrous it is to deal in blame, credit, prizes and politics when a killer disease is at issue. To do this, he creates some ludicrous situations of his own; that Sir Richard Francis Burton (the scientist, not the actor, portrayed by John Robinson) is still alive and working at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto (a metaphore for prevailing Victorian standards). He's assembling an exhibit on disease epidemics and hopes to exploit Patient Zero as the centerpiece of the show. Even more ludicrous is the arrival of the Ghost of Patient Zero (Normand Fauteux) whom only Burton can see. The story revolves around the efforts of Burton to videotape interviews with Zero's friends and family, only to edit them totally out of context, often to mean the exact opposite of what was orginally stated. It sounds silly, and it is -- but it works. Yet another metaphore; the Government, the AIDS industry and the medical profession will only tell us what they want us to know. With musical production numbers, some of them pure Buzby Berkley complete with syncronized swimmers a la Esther Williams, he manages to make a very strong point that more time, energy and money needs to be devoted to research not medical champions. You'll laugh, but along the way, you'll pick up a few new facts about AIDS, it's origin and prevention. This film is very tongue-in-cheek but makes some very important social statements. It is typical Greyson; off-the-wall and in-your-face. The music is fun, if not great, although a few songs, like "Tell a Story" and "Six or Seven Things" carry their own. The showstopper: "Pop a Boner" done in Babershop Harmony! Enjoy!

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