Doc Hollywood

Comedy, Romance

Raye Birk
Roberts Blossom
Eyde Byrde
William Cowart
Bridget Fonda	Nancy Lee Nicholson
Michael J. Fox	Dr. Benjamin Stone
Woody Harrelson	Hank Gordon
Julie Warner	Vialula
George Hamilton	Doctor Halberstrom
Barnard Hughes	Dr. Aurelius Hogue
Helen Martin	Maddie
David Ogden Stiers	Mayor Nick Nicholson
Frances Sternhagen	Lillian
Mel Winkler	Melvin
Eric Bechtel
Dan Bell
Roxanne Benseman
Janis Bjorkland

Director	Michael Caton-Jones
Producer	Susan Solt
Writer	Neil B. Shulman; Laurian Leggett

At first glance, this 1991 comedy looks like another formulaic fluff-piece with a standard fish-out-of-water scenario--in this case a hotshot young doctor (Michael J. Fox) whose cross-country drive to become a Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon is interrupted when he crashes in the rural hamlet of Grady, South Carolina. But as Fox's character is urged by the folksy locals to stay--an offer made tempting by his romance with a law student (Julie Warner)--this unassuming little movie just gets better and better thanks to a sharp script and a splendid supporting cast. Well, okay ... maybe Woody Harrelson and Bridget Fonda aren't used to the fullest of their abilities, but for the most part this is a charming and surprisingly intelligent comedy that's good enough to compare favorably to My Cousin Vinny, a film with which it shares much in common. Fox has all the right moves to make his character both bullish and ultimately agreeable, and Julie Warner's performance may leave you wondering why this fine actress didn't immediately rise to stardom. --Jeff Shannon