Doc Hollywood, 1991

Doc Hollywood, 1991
Director: Michael Caton-Jones
Cast: Michael J. Fox, Julie Warner, Bernard Hughes


Stage: home theatre, just before Christmas and midnight carols




Doc Hollywood in short: 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?



Preps: wow, haven't seen this piece in ages, I used to adore this movie. Finally, on TV. Let's see if I am dazzling even now.



Reality: Well, obviously the movie industry has made several important steps forward. In this sense, movies that used to sparkle our attention around beginning of nineties (Ghost, Pretty woman, even Doc Hollywood in this sense) are like oldies goldies in terms of music: you need to step a step back in time and swallow the feeling that was then - with doing that you can enjoy these movies like in the old days.

Doc Hollywood is one of the movies that breaks the big promise in small particles that make you wonder about the real worth of the big promise. To the people in Titanic USA was the big promise, the promise of a better life. To Doc Hollywood, living in big cities as a successful surgeon, was the promise of a better life. However, on the path to the heaven he discovers that in fact he gives a damn about small, trivial things in life and begins to doubt his decisions or his overall goals. The conversion from a big city man into the small town guy is expected, still cute. The focus in the movie is on family, small things that matter in life, knowing people that are close to you as opposed to relations in bigger cities where you definitely don't know the neighbours. You could call it some kind of catholic marketing in this movie, despite the fact that religion isn't mentioned anywhere. However the values that are praised and the reason why he changes his mind, are pretty catholic. In this sense, you start thinking if it is what you want something like this. To shoot the pigeons when you could be satisfied to your bones with the sparrows that are near you.

I think that if someone thinks big and really really really wants it, that person will find a path and no other things can cross the road there. I admit that you need to spend some time living like this in order to like it. Northern exposure is an example, drawn from series world, on the same topic. The punishment (being forced to live in a small community with small minded persons as you see them) becomes the biggest reward.

I still like the movie. A good relaxing example for big thinking. Nice music, nice dialogues, witty scenes. And some irony hidden along the way. Still worth watching!





My personal rate:6,0 (more than decen fun, obviously you need to set your mindset back 20 years and you will enjoy it a lot!)

Doc Hollywood on IMDB