Doc Hollywood

Doc Hollywood
Theatrical Release Poster
Directed by	Michael Caton-Jones
Produced by	Deborah D. Johnson Marc Merson Neil B. Shulman Susan Solt
Written by	Neil B. Shulman Laurian Leggett Jeffrey Price Peter S. Seaman Daniel Pyne
Starring	Michael J. Fox Julie Warner Woody Harrelson Bridget Fonda David Ogden Stiers Frances Sternhagen
Music by	Carter Burwell
Cinematography	Michael Chapman
Editing by	Priscilla Nedd-Friendly
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	August 2, 1991
Running time	104 min.
Language	English

Doc Hollywood is a 1991 American romantic comedy film based on the book, What? Dead...Again?, by Neil B. Shulman, M.D. The film stars Michael J. Fox, Julie Warner, Woody Harrelson and Bridget Fonda. It was directed by Michael Caton-Jones. The filming took place in Micanopy, Florida.

Plot

Dr. Benjamin Stone (Michael J. Fox) is a hotshot young surgeon who longs to leave the drudgery of a Washington, D.C. emergency room and finally leaps at his chance at more money (for repaying his med school debts) and less death as a plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills. On his last day, Ben's relationship with his co-workers is presumed to be anything but a warm one. None of his colleagues will join him for a drink, and a cake in his honor has an iced portion of the phrase "Good riddance, asshole" sliced out.

Ben's cross-country drive in a 1956 Porsche 356 Speedster to become a Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon is interrupted when he crashes in the rural hamlet of Grady, South Carolina. The crash is through the fence of local Judge Evans (Roberts Blossom), who sentences him to community service at a nearby hospital. Ben offers to pay for the fence, but the stern judge increases his community service each time he talks back.

Defeated, he reports to the hospital, where Nurse Packer (Eyde Byrde) humbles him by ordering him to clock in and out, as would a factory worker.

Though upset, Ben quickly makes friends with Mayor Nick Nicholson (David Ogden Stiers), the town cafe's proprietor/head waitress (Frances Sternhagen), and Melvin (Mel Winkler), the local mechanic tasked with repairing Ben's car. Ben soon finds his clinic work much more laid-back than the emergency room. His are simple cases such as spots before the eyes (from an elderly patient not cleaning her glasses), fishing hook impalings, and even reading mail for a young illiterate couple, whose baby he later delivers.

The experience also humbles Ben when he mistreats a case of mitral valve regurgitation leading to late cyanosis in the child. The town's curmudgeonly doctor, Aurelius Hogue (Barnard Hughes), orders Ben to give the boy a Coca-Cola. Dismissing Hogue's treatment as quackery, Ben calls for a helicopter to transport the boy to another facility in Athens, Georgia, to see a heart specialist. Hogue learns the boy had chewed his father's tobacco and explains the carbonic acid component of the soda would relieve his stomachache.

The two doctors finally bond when Ben saves Hogue after he suffers a near-fatal heart attack. Since Hogue is champing at the bit to retire, Ben is urged by the folksy locals to stay -- it pays only $35,000 a year (a fair amount of money with a low cost of living) but is made tempting by his budding romance with a tomboyish ambulance driver, Vialula (Julie Warner), better known as "Lou". She is a single mother to four-year old Emma, the product of a relationship she had with a former boyfriend while living in New York.

Ben confides that he grew up in a small town in rural Indiana, where his parents lived and died, and can't see himself confined to a small town.

Lou is also pursued by Hank Gordon (Woody Harrelson), a local insurance salesman. One day, Hank 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 pardoned from community service after saving Hogue, and is free to go to California after his car is fixed. He shows signs of maturity from his experience in Grady and has become attached to his patients. Putting career first, he leaves.

On the west coast, Ben's new boss Dr. Halberstrom (George Hamilton) hires him at the interview, thanks to an unexpected letter of recommendation from Hogue. But Ben quickly tires of the superficiality of Beverly Hills. He's surprised by the Mayor's daughter Nancy Lee (Bridget Fonda) and Hank, who have fled Grady to come to California. Hank tells Ben he took his own advice to "do what a man's gotta do." Ben, seeing an opportunity at true happiness, returns to Grady, hoping to patch things up with Lou, who takes him back.

Main cast

• Michael J. Fox as Dr. Benjamin Stone
• Julie Warner as Vialula/"Lou"
• Woody Harrelson as Hank Gordon
• Bridget Fonda as Nancy Lee Nicholson
• Roberts Blossom as Judge Evans
• Barnard Hughes as Dr. Aurelius Hogue
• David Ogden Stiers as Mayor Nick Nicholson
• Frances Sternhagen as Lillian
• George Hamilton as Dr. Halberstrom

Box Office

The movie debuted at No.3.

External links

• Doc Hollywood at the Internet Movie Database