DVD/Movie Review: Doc Hollywood

 

Doc Hollywood is a 1991 romantic comedy starring Michael J. Fox, Julie Warner, Woody Harrelson, Bridget Fonda, and David Ogden Stiers. The movie is a classic fish-out-of-water story. A doctor named Ben Stone is driving across the country to take a job in Los Angeles and gets stuck working at the hospital in the small fictional town of Grady South Carolina after destroying the town judge's fence. It is completely absurd from a reality concept, but it is one of those stories that if you can suspend your disbelief on that part, you can enjoy the rest of it. 

As far as the DVD itself goes, it is definitely nothing fancy, with no bonus material or extras, and it did not get the best DVD transfer. Hopefully, it will get a better release at some point in the future, maybe for a 35th Anniversary release as a Special Edition Blu-Ray. But, for the moment, it has just had the bare-bones DVD and Blu-Ray release.  

Overall, the movie is great even though the story is predictable, and you can see where it is going from a mile away, Even so, the acting is great, and the story is told in a very entertaining way. Fox and Warner were great as the leads and David Ogden Stiers was awesome as Grady's mayor and stole nearly every scene he was in. But really, the entire cast, supporting actors included, did well and brought something to the story. Personally, I think that this movie, along with Secret of My Success, is Michael J. Fox's best movie outside the Back to the Future series. It is also among the last handful of movies in which Fox had a leading role as it was during the filming of this movie in which he was diagnosed with Parkinson's. It is absolutely worth the time to watch.