An LA doctor is caught speeding through a tiny town in North Carolina and sentenced to three days community service for unpaid parking tickets, but the local judge/doctor
has an ulterior motive. He's dying of cancer and wants to make sure his patients are taken care of before he goes. Will she go back to her expensive lifestyle and fancy boyfriend in the Hamptons? Or will the town of Normal steal her heart?
It wasn't until I was writing a description for this film that I realized how basically identical this is to the Michael J. Fox film, Doc Hollywood (set in a small South Carolina town) with a few changes.
Besides the obvious differences of gender switching, and type of doctor, there is an overall theme of Christianity running through the film. Nothing terribly overt that would offend a casual atheist any more than living life day to day amongst Christians, but it would offend the more militant types. There is a court dispute with the ACLU over the display of a cross on public land, prayers said over meals, and Cameron's final monologue to her fiancee speaks of God's plan for her life. If these things offend you, then skip the film.
Far more distracting for me was realizing five minutes in that the lead actress was DJ Tanner from Full House, all grown up. She has a very distinctive set of teeth, and seeing them in the smile of a woman with laugh lines who looked older than me was disconcerting.
Beyond all that, it's a low-key romantic comedy that's light on the comedy. Five laugh out loud moments, mostly at the deputy and someone's use of chopsticks, one eyeroll moment at the fiancee, and one holy crap moment when she hit the sign.
This is a good film to craft to, although if you're keeping an eye on your knitting needles, you might miss a few priceless silent moments in the background of some scenes. I gave this a four out of five stars. While it's a movie that hits all the right rom-com points, its formulaic and slightly derivative nature dinged it for me by one star. As an accurate portrayal of life in a tiny town (which I know very well) it excels. As a romance, not so much.
No comments:
Post a Comment