Simple Things

Didn't they do this basic format in Doc Hollywood? At least that was funny, well acted and had charm. This one rots your teeth!

This film felt like Everwood meets the Hallmark Channel on a budget. While the storyline is fine, none of the characters were developed beneath a superficial level and felt very phony towards the end. What doctor when faced with an un-breathing son would stop to cry instead of beginning CPR?

I wanted to like the characters in this but it felt like movie needed to be more thought through before it could be engaging. For the most part the photography was beautiful and the sentiment was admirable if somewhat unbelievable.

It felt unformed when we first see the son left on his own, with no though having been put into how he would spend his day. Some of the hillbilly types were a bit too stereotypical and I didn't really find it credible that they were afraid of big city doctors.

I think that the sentiment was legit and the potential was there but everything felt like it needed more development and maybe a good solid rewrite.

Simple Things promises to be an uplifting story on the familiar theme of the big-city doctor learning life lessons in a small town. Yes, the theme's been overdone (think Doc Elliot, Doctor Quinn: Medicine Woman, Doc Hollywood, and the excellent Everwood), but it still has potential. Unfortunately, Simple Things realizes none of it. It's based on a book of short stories "Through the Window of Childhood," but Simple Things treats the story of the doctor's son as a fitfully visited subplot, despite the fact that the children turn in the only good performances in the movie. (Nicole Channing's performance is actually stunning ... her career is one to watch.)

Cameron Bancroft is completely wooden in his role, and does more than the rest of the cast put together to murder the movie. He curiously displays no interest in helping his mourning son, and never even touches him except during a medical emergency. The other adult actors are poor as well. Bellamy Young comes across as an annoying goody two-shoes in the role of the town's mayor.

Finally, the message is hopelessly muddled. Is it about opening yourself up to the people you serve, or doing everything you can to win the big promotion?

To the critic that was bothered by the way the mountain people were depicted in the movie "Simple Things". I am also from the area in which the movie was filmed. I guess that you need reminding that the people there are smart enough to know that this is a fictional movie and to not take things so seriously. Mountain people, for the most part, are just proud enough to not worry what the rest of the world thinks of them, because they know whom and of what character they are. I know many people there that are truly excited about movies being shot in their back yard. My family is proud of it and would like for others around the U.S. to see our countryside. For the plot not being so believable, that's the sole reason we make movies. Not too often is reality exciting. I cant wait to see the movie.

It's a formula we've all seen many times before. Big-city professional gets banished to the boondocks and has to adjust to a new way of life. One could compare it to "Hart of Dixie", though the community in that TV series has a doctor already and is closer to civilization. This movie has one common thread with that series which I won't mention because it's a spoiler, but it does explain a lot.

Still, it's not as bad as all that. Evan isn't a pleasant character and it seems unlikely he'll become the beloved doc, but he knows what he is doing and can handle, and has to handle, a number of crisis situations made worse by the fact no hospital seems to be nearby.

Edie McClurg stands out from the rest of the cast and has just a delightful personality, and most of the other actors do a good job too. Young Channing Nichols is adorable, nice and intelligent. Mickey Jones is of course a genuine hick and a lot of fun and everything you'd expect in this place, but he turns out to be much more.

Still, this is not really a hick town. Terry seems intelligent and so do some of the others. The people in general seem real and not backwoods bumpkins, especially the ones with no lines that are only seen in situations such as town meetings. Based on the credits, I would say these are real people from Transylvania County, and it shows.

It is a family movie, but there are some upsetting situations and a medical crisis that involves blood. And this far from a hospital (we're not told, but there's not one in the immediate vicinity), some unpleasant truths have to be dealt with.

It's an okay movie.