Doc Hollywood is a 1991 American romantic comedy film directed by Michael Caton-Jones, and written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman, based on Neil B. Shulman's book, What? Dead...Again?. The film stars Michael J. Fox, Julie Warner, Barnard Hughes, Woody Harrelson, David Ogden Stiers, Frances Sternhagen, and Bridget Fonda.
Doc Hollywood | |
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Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Michael Caton-Jones |
Produced by | Deborah D. Johnson Susan Solt |
Written by | Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman Daniel Pyne |
Based on | What? Dead...Again? by Neil B. Shulman |
Starring |
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Music by | Carter Burwell |
Cinematography | Michael Chapman |
Edited by | Priscilla Nedd-Friendly |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date | August 2, 1991 |
Running time | 104 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $17 million |
Box office | $54,830,779 |
The film was shot on location in Micanopy, Florida and McIntosh, Florida.
Screenplay
Dr. Benjamin Stone (Michael J. Fox) is a promising young surgeon working in Washington, D.C. with plans of making more money working for a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon. On his last day, he realizes that none of his colleagues care enough about him to say good-bye to him, instead leaving him a cake with an insult written on it.
Driving out west in a 1956 Porsche 356 Speedster, Stone swerves to miss a cow on the highway and crashes into the fence of a local resident in the rural hamlet of Grady, South Carolina. The resident is local Judge Evans (Roberts Blossom), who sentences him to community service at the nearby hospital as punishment rather than allow Stone to pay for the fence with cash since Evans built that fence. As a result, Ben reports to the local clinic where Nurse Packer (Eydy Byrde) further humbles him by recording his community service hours by clocking him in and out like a factory worker.
Though upset, Ben makes friends with Mayor Nick Nicholson (David Ogden Stiers), his daughter Nancy Lee (Bridget Fonda), and Melvin (Mel Winkler), the local mechanic tasked with repairing his car. Ben soon finds the clinic work is more laid-back than the emergency room, with simple cases, such as spots before the eyes of an elderly patient (Adele Malis-Morey) not cleaning her glasses, fishing hook impaling and even reading mail for a young illiterate couple, Kyle and Mary Owens (Time Winters and K.T. Vogt).
The small-town experience humbles Ben further when he misdiagnoses a young boy as having mitral valve regurgitation leading to late cyanosis, a case the town's curmudgeonly doctor Aurelius Hogue (Barnard Hughes) treats with a Coca-Cola. Hogue explains that the boy had chewed his father's tobacco and was given too much bismuth subnitrate as an antacid, causing a blue tinge. The carbonic acid component of the soda would relieve his stomachache. The two finally bond when Ben saves Hogue after he suffers a near-fatal heart attack. Since Hogue is eager to retire, Ben is urged by the locals to stay and replace him. Although he is tempted by his budding romance with a tomboyish ambulance driver named Vialula (Julie Warner), better known as "Lou," a single mother to a four-year-old named Emma, Ben soon confides to her that he grew up in a small town in rural Indiana where his parents lived and died and how he can't see himself confined to a small town.
Lou is also pursued by Hank Gordon (Woody Harrelson), a local insurance salesman. He waits for Ben at the mayor's lakeside lodge, where Ben has been staying. Ben expects a fight, but Hank explains that though he can't give Lou what Ben can, he's still a better man for her. After the two men talk, Ben comes to realize he's not selfless enough for a life with Lou and plans to not see her anymore. Ben is soon pardoned from community service by Evans for saving Hogue, allowing him to head to California for his job interview. With his car fixed, he tries to sneak out of town, but his departure is delayed when he finds Kyle and Mary Owens stranded by the side of the road with Mary in deep labor. While he's delivering their baby, a tractor trailer smashes into his Porsche and he must leave town without it.
Ben's new boss Dr. Halberstrom (George Hamilton) hires him at the interview, based on an unexpected recommendation from Hogue. Ben soon tires of the superficiality of Beverly Hills, even going so far as calling to check the weather in Grady on his phone.
The next day, he's surprised to receive a message at work from a woman with a "heavy Southern accent" and rushes to a restaurant where he noticed his restored Porsche in the parking lot. Nancy Lee and Hank have come to California and Hank tells Ben he took his own advice to "do what a man's gotta do."
Ben returns to Grady, hoping to patch things up with Lou, who takes him back.
- Michael J. Fox as Dr. Benjamin Stone, an aspiring surgeon.
- Julie Warner as Vialula/"Lou," a tomboyish ambulance driver living in Grady.
- Barnard Hughes as Dr. Aurelius Hogue, an elderly doctor in Grady.
- Woody Harrelson as Hank Gordon, Grady's local insurance salesman.
- David Ogden Stiers as Mayor Nick Nicholson, the mayor of Grady who is also the owner of the town's café.
- Frances Sternhagen as Lillian, a member of Grady's welcoming committee.
- Bridget Fonda as Nancy Lee Nicholson, the daughter of Nick Nicholson.
- Roberts Blossom as Judge Evans, the judge who sentences Benjamin to community service.
- Eyde Byrde as Nurse Packer, Grady's residential nurse who oversees Benjamin's community service.
- Mel Winkler as Melvin, a mechanic charged with the duty to restore Benjamin's car.
- George Hamilton as Dr. Halberstrom, a Beverly Hills doctor.
- Adele Malis-Morey as Woman with Glasses
- Time Winters as Kyle Owens
- K.T. Vogt as Mary Owens
The film's soundtrack features the Chesney Hawkes song "The One and Only", which reached number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
Critical response
The film was met with positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 69% based on reviews from 32 critics.
Roger Ebert rated the film a 3 out of 4 stars stating "On the basis of the movie's trailer, I was expecting Doc Hollywood to be a comedy. And it is a comedy. But it surprised me by also being a love story, and a pretty good one – the kind where the lovers are smart enough to know all the reasons why they shouldn't get together, but too much in love to care."
Box office
Doc Hollywood debuted at number three in the U.S. box office.
The makers of the Disney/Pixar film Cars have been accused of plagiarizing its plot from this film. "Many reviewers also felt that Cars' plot was too indebted to the 1991 Michael J Fox comedy Doc Hollywood, in which a hotshot Los Angeles doctor learns a new set of values when he is stranded in an average American town. 'It just rips off Doc Hollywood, almost note for note,' said Christy Lemire of the San Francisco Chronicle." Critic Simon Kinnear of Total Film concurred, stating "Actually, this one pretty much is just 'Doc Hollywood with cars.'"