BEFORE: I didn't talk much yet about what we did over the July 4 weekend, we went and had burgers and dogs with my brother- and sister-in-law at a friend's house, and other than that, I caught up on TV. We watched the Macy's fireworks display on the DVR Sunday night, and what a disappointment that was. Not the fireworks themselves, but the music was completely terrible. I think last year they let Usher choose the music, and they must have received complaints from Middle America, because the pendulum swung back too far in the other direction. Instead there were very dated vocal arrangements of songs from the 1800's, and versions from a "Diva Jazz Band" that reminded me of disco versions from the 1970's. I'm not a big fan of most modern music, but I understand that you're not going to get kids today to look up from their iPads by playing "You're a Grand Old Flag", in the style of a high-school choral arrangement.
Linking from "The Extreme Adventures of Super Dave", Dan Hedaya was also in "For Love or Money" with Michael J. Fox (last heard in "Stuart Little 3").
AFTER: I'm going to try my best to tie in last night's film with this one - I could point out that the Super Dave film was all about someone getting injured, and this film is about a doctor healing people. Lame, I know. I'm also riding the tail end of an unintended "American" theme - what's more American than country music, coal mining, and filmmaking, and stunts? If you take this film as a look at small-town America, in some ways this does continue my theme. There is a squash festival seen here, and there were fireworks, (and they danced to Patsy Cline's "Crazy"), so that was sort of reminiscent of July 4.
Look, I have to accept that as my list of films gets smaller and smaller, occasionally there will be thematic jumps, where one film has nothing to do with the next. Hmm, let's try another tactic - Super Dave was an overly optimistic, humble character who gets let down by everyone around him, and tonight's character is the opposite - a pessimistic, egotistical type who learns that a rural community can be a source of tremendous support.
I'm probably grasping at straws - but this is a fairly simple story about a big-city doctor stuck in a small town. When you're stuck for an idea, the easiest fallback is usually to highlight a contrast. And there's no bigger contrast than the one between small-town folk and city folk. The pace is slower, the salary is lower, but the people are more genuine. Our hero, Dr. Ben Stone has to work off his community service hours while the town's doctor is on vacation, and even though he's got great medical knowledge, what he lacks are people skills.
Of course there's a love interest, a relationship with his ambulance driver that starts with a wager, but eventually becomes genuine. And the relationship is something of a love triangle, since there's another man involved, or really it's a bit of a quadrangle, since the mayor's daughter seems pretty interested in Dr. Stone, but these are plotlines that are never really as developed as they could have been. But then, this isn't really a romance story between people, it's really more of an examination of small-town life.
I'll call this "serviceably entertaining", though I feel like a larger point could have been made somewhere, it almost feels like it was all around a point without being completely clear. I've lived in the suburbs and I've lived in a city, and I get that when you've lived one way for a while, that becomes what you get used to - but what about the place where you lived before?
Also starring Julie Warner, Woody Harrelson (last seen in "The Thin Red Line"), David Ogden Stiers (last seen in "The Curse of the Jade Scorpion"), Bridget Fonda (last seen in "City Hall"), Frances Sternhagen (last seen in "Julie & Julia"), Barnard Hughes, Roberts Blossom, Eyde Byrde, with a cameo from George Hamilton (last seen in "Hollywood Ending").
RATING: 5 out of 10 stuffed possums
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