Monday - Movies
The Age
Thursday July 10, 2008
Doc Hollywood (1991)
Channel Nine, noonMichael J. Fox may not be at the top of most people's list of film actors, but he has been sorely missed since he retired from the screen. Diminutive, often self-deprecating and invariably charming, Fox has an infectious presence. He also starred in some good movies, including Doc Hollywood, which has been puzzlingly ignored over the years. Fox plays an obnoxious doctor who is fleeing public health for the assured wealth of life as a plastic surgeon in Beverley Hills. But an abrupt detour off a jam-packed highway, and a car accident among the white picket fences of small-town America, sees his ambitious life plans put on hold. The judge, who has just painted the fence, sentences him to 32 hours of community service at the local hospital, a place that doesn't seem to be overrun with patients. Fortunately, the local ambulance driver turns out to be the sweet Vialulu (Julie Warner), who, along with a trio of old ladies bearing plates of catfish and southern-fried chicken, is probably a good reason to stay. This isn't a film that will convince you that hometown values are better than those in the big city, but it is sweet and often laugh-out-loud funny. -- SCOTT MURRAY
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