Doc Hollywood (Full Screen)

 

 

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Sweet and funny love story. City boy in a small town plot. An old favourite I've watched many times. Not JUST a chick flick; my boyfriend likes it too!

This is a cute movie and holds your attention. Speaking about attention, I'm not saying that Julie Warner is like Hedy Lamar; but they both where the same suit when they come out of the water (birthday.) And George Hamilton plays a similar character as he does in "8 Heads in a Duffel Bag" (1997). I am glad it is not one of those letterbox (have to look at the black lines) pictures. They are ok but distracting when not necessary.

Dr. Benjamin Stone is on his way to try out for a new job as a high paid plastic surgeon. Due to impedance in the road, he is forced to detour through a local fence. The fence just happened to be owned by the judge. When the judge finds out that Ben Stone is a doctor, he requires Ben to pay with community service and the story snowballs from there.

Will Ben stay in the one pig town or will he finally move on to the big city?

This is a cute movie with many twists and turns.

Too often, Hollywood directors seem to forget that cinematic success comes in the form of great characters. Doc Hollywood, though, is one of those films that proves the rule. This movie is chock full of great characters, even in some of the smallest of roles -- and it's not just the people, for the small town in which the story takes place is quite a character unto itself. The town of Grady is sort of an updated version of Mayberry -- idyllic, of course, but nonetheless charming and evocative. It's the kind of place you can only find in the South.

Of course, Dr. Ben Stone (Michael J. Fox) has blinders on when he first arrives. Having just left the hustle and bustle (and blood) of a large D.C. hospital, he's on his way to La La Land in hopes of snagging a cushy job in the lucrative practice of cosmetic surgery. On his cross-country drive, he gets as far as South Carolina before fate steps in, leaving Stone temporarily stuck in the small town of Grady with a banged-up sports car and a judge's sentence of thirty-two hours of community medical service. Grady is in great need of a new doctor to replace the aging Dr. Hogue (Barnard Hughes), and everyone in town (well, almost everyone) -- from the mayor (David Ogden Stiers) to the official welcoming committee of ladies and on down to the local farmers -- makes no bones about their hopes of enticing him to stay. Even the glory of the annual squash festival can't do much to equal the scales, though, as California promises fortune and excitement, while a practice in Grady promises only a barely decent salary and quiet, country living. Predictably, though, Stone finds love -- or at least the prospect for love -- with the local ambulance driver. He and Lou (Julie Warner), a single mother and aspiring law student, engage in a lot of mutual flirtation, but she quickly becomes something much more than a mere conquest for Stone, which makes his decision whether to stay in Grady or snatch the gold ring in California much more difficult than he ever would have thought.

With the help of a fantastic cast, Grady quickly begins to feel a lot like home for the viewer. With just a little interaction here and there, you really come to know a vast number of people -- the mayor, the local mechanic, the judge, old Doc Hogue, the implacable Nurse Packer, the illiterate family who depends on the doc to read them the family letters they receive, and the list just goes on. Two of the faces are particularly recognizable: Woody Harrelson plays Lou's would-be suitor, and Bridget Fonda (whom I have long adored, despite the fact that she's a Fonda) plays the mayor's daughter, a young lady who longs for the bright lights of a big city. David Ogden Stiers, I have to say, is just wonderful as the mayor; he's the exact antithesis of the Bostonian intellectual he played for so many years on M*A*S*H. I can't say that all of these actors and actresses sounded all that Southern, but it's not their fault that they weren't lucky enough to be born here in the South.

You might be thinking this sounds like just another story about a city slicker won over by the charms of small-town living. Doc Hollywood could easily have been just another boring version of an old story, but this film has a special quality that turns it into so much more than a predictable comedy. Thanks to nuanced directing, rich storytelling, and wonderful acting, more than a few of these characters have a remarkable depth that you pick up on very quickly. Grady isn't just a town; it's a way of life, with a genuineness you don't often find in any kind of film. Stone's ultimate decision does not come down to anything as simple as romance vs. money. Certainly, his feelings for Lou are deep and genuine, but the town of Grady and all of her citizens sing a siren song of love that Stone hears, as well. As for that ending, it doesn't play out exactly in the manner you might expect, and that's just one more reason to love this wonderful movie.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Maybe the best "date flicks" I've ever seen.
I normally cannot watch movies on airplanes for some reason. I first saw "Doc Hollywood" on the grueling Boston-LA flight, and it immediately captured and held my... Read more

Published on April 24 2004 by Roger J. Buffington

4.0 out of 5 stars One of michael j. fox's best!
The only movie in my belief that surpasses this one is "The secret of my success". If you like a good down home country turned city movie then this one will be a must... Read more

Published on Feb 23 2004 by david dewitt

4.0 out of 5 stars Warm and funny
With its "hardened city boy recognizes what is important in life" plot, as predictable as that might be, I found this movie to be warm, funny, and poignant. Read more

Published on Feb 8 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Feel-Good Movie
If you live in a big city and have also lived in a small town, you'll love this movie. The cast is great. Michael J. Fox and Julie Warner make great movie chemistry. Read more

Published on Nov 29 2003 by LeftyGtar

2.0 out of 5 stars Preachy Comedy
As it got harder to lure audiences into theatres to see preachy dramas, we see a shift to preachy comedies. This is one of them. Cute girl, bad movie.

Published on Nov 4 2003 by Griswel

4.0 out of 5 stars Michael J. Fox in a Country Charmer!
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... Read more

Published on Oct 28 2003 by Benjamin J Burgraff

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Movie
Julie Warner, for me, was the highlight of the movie. I believe she was 25 when she filmed her role as Lou the ambulance driver. Read more

Published on Sep 6 2003 by movie_goer

4.0 out of 5 stars Gotta admit
There are two reasons I bought a copy of DH - and they belong to Julie Warner. That morning at the lake just blows me away. Sorry, Mom. B-)

Published on Aug 13 2003 by Eric C. Sanders

4.0 out of 5 stars lovely film BAD dvd
first off lets just remind ourselfs what a really good film doc hollywood is, its the sort of film you can slide into the dvd player anytime, so easy to watch, good acting, good... Read more

Published on July 28 2003 by d.b england

1.0 out of 5 stars Doc Hollywood DVD is not widescreen
The actual movie is widescreen, the laserdisc is widescreen, but the DVD is pan and scan. Great movie, lousy DVD.

Published on July 23 2003

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