Doc Hollywood (1991) 5.9
A young doctor causes a traffic accident in a small town and is sentenced to work for some days at the town hospital. Director:Michael Caton-Jones |
|
| Watch Trailer 0Share... |
Doc Hollywood (1991) 5.9
A young doctor causes a traffic accident in a small town and is sentenced to work for some days at the town hospital. Director:Michael Caton-Jones |
|
| Watch Trailer 0Share... |
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Michael J. Fox | ... | ||
| Julie Warner | ... |
Vialula /
'Lou'
|
|
| Barnard Hughes | ... |
Dr. Aurelius Hogue
|
|
| Woody Harrelson | ... | ||
| David Ogden Stiers | ... |
Mayor Nick Nicholson
|
|
| Frances Sternhagen | ... |
Lillian, Welcoming Committee
|
|
| George Hamilton | ... |
Doctor Halberstrom
|
|
| Bridget Fonda | ... | ||
|
|
Mel Winkler | ... |
Melvin the Mechanic
|
| Helen Martin | ... |
Maddie, Welcoming Committee
|
|
| Roberts Blossom | ... |
Judge Evans
|
|
|
|
Tom Lacy | ... |
Deputy Cotton
|
| Macon McCalman | ... |
Aubrey Draper
|
|
|
|
Raye Birk | ... |
Simon Tidwell, First Patient
|
|
|
Eyde Byrde | ... |
Nurse Packer
|
Benjamin Stone is a young doctor driving to L.A where he was offered a new job as a plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills. He gets off the highway to avoid a traffic jam, but gets lost and ends up crashing into a fence in the small town of Grady. He is sentenced to 32 hrs of community service at the local hospital. All he wants is to serve the sentence and get moving, but gradually the locals become attached to the new doctor, and he falls for the pretty ambulance driver, Lou. Will he leave? Written by Sami Al-Taher <staher2000@yahoo.com>
When future film critics decide to analyze the career of Michael J. Fox, they will likely say his talents were best suited to television, with an acknowledgement that he did star in the BACK TO THE FUTURE series. This will be a shame, as Fox has been an ingratiating, very enjoyable actor to watch, in most of his films, and DOC HOLLYWOOD is one of his best roles.
As breezy, fast-talking Washington, D.C. surgeon Dr. Ben Stone, who dreams of making big money doing plastic surgery in Hollywood, but finds his true calling as a general practitioner in a small southern hamlet, Fox is so 'right' that you can't imagine any other actor in the role. After a minor traffic accident enroute to California forces him to do 'public service' in fictional Grady, South Carolina, taking on much of the workload of a crusty old local physician (the always enjoyable Barnard Hughes), Stone becomes the 'talk' of the town, and rustic but wise Mayor Nick Nicholson (David Ogden Stiers, in one of his most engaging performances), starts 'selling' the joys of country life to the cosmopolitan young doctor. A quilt with 'magical' powers provides a nude vision of the girl he's destined to love, 'Lou' (Julie Warner), who turns out to be working at his office; his hormone-fueled pursuit of her, and her pragmatic 'indifference' to his flirtations make their gradual romance edgy and fun to watch.
In a town full of colorful characters, two 'stars in the making' stand out; Woody Harrelson, as 'Lou's' suitor, Hank Gordon, a country variation of his bartending character from 'Cheers', talks dumb but has a knack for selling, only lacking a place to make big money at it; and Bridget Fonda, as Mayor Nicholson's oversexed but 'out of place' daughter, hopes Stone will take her away to the bright lights of Hollywood. Both stars are terrific in their supporting roles, and show the charisma that would lead them to stardom.
DOC HOLLYWOOD is full of charming vignettes, from Stone vicariously reading the mail for an illiterate farm couple, to being paid for services rendered with a rather large pig, who ultimately becomes his 'pet'. The film abounds in warm comic touches that are guaranteed to bring a smile!
With a very funny cameo by George Hamilton, as the Hollywood plastic surgeon Stone dreams of working with, DOC HOLLYWOOD hits all the right notes for a terrific entertainment. My only complaint about the film is that it was actually filmed in Florida; as a South Carolina resident, I can attest that MANY of our small towns could have doubled quite nicely for Grady...
DOC HOLLYWOOD is a film I'm proud to have in my collection!