Nelson Wright (Kiefer Sutherland), the manipulative, fame - seeking
initiator of the project, has recruited Rachel Mannus (Julia Roberts), a self - made expert in the field of death; David Labraccio (Kevin Bacon), an idealistic yet pragmatic student suspended from med school; ladies» man Joe Hurley (William Baldwin); and the
brilliant yet self - absorbed Randy Steckle (Oliver Platt) to venture into a frontier that until now had been the exclusive province of religion and philosophy.