The first man I ever had a crush on was Michael J. Fox. When I was a kindergartener, I never tired of watching him on Family Ties – with a very goofy expression on my face, I’m afraid. By the time I dove into the Back to the Future
franchise a few years later, my enthusiasm had dimmed to a more
respectable level, but I’ve always enjoyed Fox’s performances, so I’m
surprised I never saw Doc Hollywood until this year.
In
this 1991 movie based on the book by Neil Shulman and directed by
Michael Caton-Jones, Fox plays Dr. Benjamin Stone, a hotshot physician
on his way to L.A. to begin a promising career as a plastic surgeon.
After he takes a wrong turn, Benjamin wipes out on the highway, landing
in the sleepy town of Grady. His car’s a shambles, and so is the picket
fence that the judge built with his own two hands. While he waits to
regain his wheels, Benjamin must serve the sentence the judge hands down
to him: 32 hours working as a doctor in the town’s clinic.
What this movie reminded me of right off the bat was Cars,
the Pixar film about a self-absorbed racecar who blunders into a small
town, makes a mess and, in the process of cleaning it up, learns the
value of a simple life and genuine friendships. It’s pretty clear from
the beginning that this movie has the same general arc. Benjamin doesn’t
think much of Grady at first. However, as he treats its residents, he
gradually comes to feel real affection for them – and especially for Lou
(Julie Warner), a strong-willed single mother who drives the town
ambulance.
The romantic storyline is fairly sweet, a typical
tale of two seemingly very different people learning that they actually
have more common ground than they realized. It’s made more entertaining
by the presence of a large pig that gets passed around town as payment
for various services rendered and ultimately helps Benjamin win the
approval of Lou’s young daughter. Woody Harrelson’s turn as the
not-as-dopey-as-he-seems Hank Gordon, who has his own romantic designs
on Lou, is fun as well.
However, it’s the town as a whole that
really serves as the movie’s heart. While Benjamin falls in love with
Lou, he also becomes enamored of the way Grady’s residents live. It’s
funny to see David Ogden Stiers, usually so uppity, as Nick Nicholson,
the folksy mayor of Grady. Yes, he is in a leadership position, but he
is very much a down-home kind of guy and the chief proponent of the
town’s charms. While others extend a temporary welcome, it’s plain that
Nick would be happy to have Benjamin stay. Less gracious is Dr. Hogue
(Barnard Hughes), the cantankerous physician currently serving all of
the town’s residents on his own.
From the surly nurse to the
humble, illiterate family whose letters from a long-winded relative
become a favorite entertainment, the people of Grady gradually open
their hearts to the doctor, and he does the same as kindly widows push
food upon him and the mayor entreats him to at least stay for the town’s
big festival. Benjamin is starting to feel at home, but his destiny
lies on the opposite coast on the sunny streets of Los Angeles. Or does
it?
While there is some profanity, as well as a bit of nudity
that surprised me but helps establish the remote setting, it’s generally
a pretty mild PG-13. Hence, I would term this a cute and mostly
family-friendly movie about a young man’s deepening sense of community
and compassion. I may not swoon for Fox anymore, but Doc Hollywood aptly demonstrates just how charming he can be.
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