Simple Things

this is a calming nice movie. rare! the performances were just fine. subtle and under acted, which is a good thing. the "mountain folk" had some caricatures, but in the end, all were good people. great to watch with kids, mine, 3 & 9, watched this calm talking movie with interest, just as much as watching flashing zip zap action cartoons and laugh track Disney shows which is pretty much all the choices there are. i hope more movies like this come out. it hit on some serious issues with subtlety and a sense of reality like a well staged play. my kids learned some strength things here. kudos to crew, actors, writing, director. my only real critique, and i hope the DP learns from this, which may have been due to budget & constraints, but the lighting felt a little too even handed, too well lit. but i am picky about that and like my fog machines, rays of light, dark shadows and negative space. course i'm a monster scifi geek myself.

this movie helped when I needed something calm simple and nice

to watch!

I loved everything about it, the place the characters..

I wish it lasted longer!

It's about appreciating the simple things!

and opening to something new.. and appreciating people, helping them and winning their trust!

I don't know why people said it's disappointing, but it's one of the best stories to me! ♥

I recommend people to watch it too!

Simple town. Simple houses. Simple people who live there. Maybe we all need a little simpler way of life now and then. Seen at the Staten Island Film Festival June 2007, this definitely provides a change of pace to what you'll see in most of today's movie houses. In this movie, a big city high tech. doctor comes to rural America to set up a clinic as a requirement to advance his career. I'm pretty sure if you showed up at this 'clinic' today, you'd probably wonder what in the world you're letting yourself in for. If it isn't gleaming chrome and plastic today, most of us would probably head for the nearest exit. Predictable? Maybe a little, but that doesn't ruin the movie one bit. If you're looking for high speed car chases, this movie isn't for you. No shoot'em ups either. Sit back, relax, and enjoy this movie with the entire family. It also just might restore your faith in people, even though you think of yourself as superior, high tech, or city slicker. Great entertainment.

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?

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.