Review of Doc Hollywood (1991) by Stuart K — 16 Apr 2013

Directed by Michael Caton-Jones, (Memphis Belle (1990), This Boy's Life (1993) and Rob Roy (1995)), and based upon Neil B. Shulman's 1979 book What? Dead...Again? This is a very amusing film, which has a sweet nature about it, along with some very colourful characters and a very sharp script, it also shows a way of life in America that people tend to forget about one that's laid back and peaceful, rather than stressed out and rushing everywhere.

In Washington D.C., surgeon Dr. Benjamin Stone (Michael J. Fox) leads a fast but ill-paid job, but then he's given the chance to become a plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, it's a perfect job, and he sets out in his 1956 Porsche 356 Speedster, and sets off for a new life, which comes to a (literal) crashing halt when he takes a short cut through the sleepy, rural town of Grady, South Carolina, where he accidentally hits a fence.

He's ordered by local Judge Evans (Roberts Blossom) to serve time at a local hospital. But, after making friends with Mayor Nick Nicholson (David Ogden Stiers), salesman Hank Gordon (Woody Harrelson) and driver Vialula (Julie Warner), he doesn't want to leave, but he has to.

It's an enjoyable and very funny film, where it's humour comes from the situations the local characters get themselves into, and their ways of life, it's a joy to watch, and it's the best film Bill Forsyth never made.