Don't listen to the negative reviews

A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

this film is a pure piece of American schmaltz, it has a small town, a man who changes his way because of the good hearted folk around and if you look up Capraesque in the dictionary the chances are that it would say "... see Doc Hollywood". I love it. As a piece of pure Sunday afternoon entertainment it has the lot. Winning performances from an assured cast, a witty script and a warm cuddly plot. Michael J Fox brings a natural charm to his role as the young Doctor who is forced to spend time in the small southern town of Grady (home of the Grady Squash) after knocking down the judges newly built fence. He is sentenced to community service under the eye of the irrascible Dr Hogue (played with relish by Barnard Hughes)and unexpectedly falls in love - with a woman (Lou the ambulance driver) and gradually the town.The plot's simple,but Fox carries it well,and he's surrounded by a great bunch of quirky characters.Warner is great as the love interest,sexy,tough yet vulnerable,and always believable.It's funny,heart-warming,and thoroughly enjoyable. The cast is filled out with some lovely turns from David Ogden Stiers, Woody Harrelson and Bridget Fonda and a hilarious knowing cameo from George Hamilton. For me the real stars are the locals - the man who is so pleased with the Doc he brings him a pig, the couple who see the Doc so he can read their letters, and a jack-handed fisherman are just a few of the small delights this film offers. The movie teaches some broad values while giving tons of smiles!Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

Dr. Benjamin Stone (Michael J. Fox) has just finished his residency in the DC area and, now, is off to the big bucks in Beverly Hills! You see, the young croaker has an appointment with a famous plastic surgeon (George Hamilton) to become a member of his staff. There is little doubt in Stone's mind that he will be chosen because "he's not just anybody". But, as he begins the long journey with his Porsche, some construction and other rural hazards makes him lose his way. When he almost hits come cows crossing a road, he steers his auto into the fence of the local judge, totally destroying it. In return, the judge sites Ben for reckless driving and sentences him to 32 hours of service at the local hospital. Our Ben is livid! After securing another interview in California at a later date, Stone reluctantly begins his obligation in a town he describes as hee-haw hell. But, amazingly, it might not be as bad as the city doc thinks. First, the mayor (David Ogden Stiers) welcomes him with open arms and the town folk make a big fuss over Stone, too, hoping he might stay, since their resident physician, Doc Hoag (Barnard Hughes) is old. Then, a hotshot mechanic, Mel (Mel Winkler) fixes his precious car. Most importantly, a local gal who drives the hospital ambulance, Lou (Julie Warner) is a lovely divorcée with looks and smarts. Almost before they can believe it, these two are in an undeclared love. Will Ben be making the trip to California after all? This is a lovely and funny romance from over 20 years ago that is still fresh and appealing. Fox, naturally, is a charming comedian and the other cast members listed above as well as Woody Harrelson and Bridget Fonda are most delightful. The small city and its surroundings are rustic beauties while costumes, photography, script and direction are most worthy. Make an appointment with this Doc, y'all, you will be glad you did.

Even by surgeons' standards,Doctor Stone is horrible and arrogant.Disliked by fellow medics in his big city hospital,none of whom will be sorry to see the back of him,he is on his way to L.A. keen to make his first million in Cosmetic Surgery.After taking an illegal route round a traffic jam he runs his vintage Porsche into a picket fence owned by the Judge in a one - ute town down south.Failing to bamboozle them with his big city ways,he ends up in the Judge's courtroom and is sentenced to do community service at the local hospital which is under threat due to the imminent retirement of the town doctor,a wise and experienced old-style MD.The rest is pure Preston Sturges. Mr Michael J Fox is more convincing as the big city man than the country boy he eventually aspires to be but it is the extraordinary Miss Julie Warner who keeps "Doc Hollywood" from disappearing up its own Jubilation T.Cornpone.From the moment he sees her Dr Stone's career as a Plastic Surgeon is dead in the water - he just needs to be made to realise it. Mr Ogden-Stiers and the rest of the cast comfortably carry off the not-as-easy-as-it-looks task of playing convincing small town folk without being hokey. Mr George Hamilton is especially ghastly as the Plastic Surgeon Doctor Stone aspires to work for,convincing down to his appalling pony tail. "Doc Hollywood" is a splendid view of America as it would like to be seen,all the more remarkable then that it was directed by a Scotsman.

Ambitious yuppie doctor Ben Stone (a supremely assured and affable performance by Michael J. Fox) completes his internship at a Washington hospital and rushes off to Los Angeles for a cushy high-paying job as a plastic surgeon. En route to California Ben finds himself stranded in the quaint small South Carolina hamlet of Grady, where he's forced to do 32 hours worth of community service. Ben plans on leaving town as soon as possible, but has second thoughts after meeting feisty and fetching ambulance driver Lou (a delightfully spunky portrayal by the deliciously lissome Julie Warner). Director Michael Caton-Jones, working from an amiable script by Jeffrey Price, Peter S. Seamon and Daniel Pyne, keeps the pace bubbling along at a steady clip, gives the picture a gentle, folksy charm that never becomes too corny or sappy, maintains a pleasant, good-natured tone throughout, and displays a sincere affection for the colorful and likable salt-of-the-earth rural characters. Fox's ingratiating presence keeps the movie humming from start to finish; he receives fine support from Warner (her nude skinny-dipping introductory scene is a genuinely sexy corker), Woody Harrelson as shrewd, dashing life insurance salesman Hank Gordon, David Ogden Steirs as hearty, jolly Mayor Nick Nicholson, Barnard Hughes as cranky veteran physician Dr. Aurelius Hugue, Bridget Fonda as aggressively flirtatious man-hungry tramp Nancy Lee Nicholson, Frances Sternhagen as sour old maid Lillian, Roberts Blossom as crusty Judge Evans, Mel Winkler as laid-back, gregarious Melvin the Mechanic, and Eyde Byrde as stern, by-the-book Nurse Packer. George Hamilton contributes an amusing cameo as hotshot plastic surgeon Dr. Halberstrom. Michael Chapman's sunny cinematography gives the film an attractive sparkling look. Carter Burwell provides a tuneful, jaunty, countryish score. A sweet little winner.