Doc Hollywood

Directed by Michael Caton-Jones, Doc Hollywood follows hotshot physician Ben Stone (Michael J. Fox) as he finds himself forced to spend several days in a small, out-of-the-way town – where he slowly-but-surely finds himself captivated by the oddball residents (and even finds himself falling for a local, Julie Warner’s Lou). It’s a far-from-innovative premise that’s employed to consistently watchable and pleasant effect by Caton-Jones, as the filmmaker delivers a deliberate yet progressively compelling narrative that’s heightened by the efforts of an eclectic cast – with Fox’s typically winning work matched by such top-tier supporting players as Woody Harrelson, Barnard Hughes, and Bridget Fonda. There are ultimately few plot developments within Doc Hollywood that one can’t see coming from miles away, and yet this does little to diminish what’s mostly a seriously affable piece of work – with the picture’s only real stumble a protracted finale that could (and should) have been trimmed down substantially (or, in the case of the Beverly Hills-set sequences, excised completely). Still, Doc Hollywood is mostly a compulsively watchable Michael J. Fox vehicle that’s aged better than one might’ve anticipated, ultimately.

*** out of ****

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