I turned 40 last November and for my birthday a dear “work colleague” of mine bought me the Michael J. Fox autobiography, “Lucky Man”. I’m not a big reader but I’d mentioned to her in the past that with Back to the Future being my favourite film of all time I’d quite like to read it.
I picked it up recently and finally started reading it. I’m currently about a quarter of the way in and it’s really good so far!
In the first couple of chapters Michael J. Fox talks about the film Doc Hollywood (1991) and how he almost didn’t make it. He also says that after a string of commercial failures it was the box office success he needed to keep his career going.
Hearing him talk about the making of the film in such detail made me want to watch it since I’d never seen it all the way through, just bits and pieces on TV. I decided to watch it last night and I really enjoyed it! It’s a proper “Sunday afternoon, easy watch” kind of film.
If you haven’t seen it it’s about a slightly arrogant young doctor who while driving to L.A to interview for a high paying job as a plastic surgeon, takes a wrong turn on the highway and crashes his Porsche through a newly erected fence in a small town.
He’s promptly sentenced to 32 hours of community service working in the local hospital. There he meets an attractive and spirited young ambulance driver who, along with the rest of the town’s colourful inhabitants makes him rethink his priorities.
It’s such a shame that Michael J. Fox was afflicted with Parkinson's Disease. He was already a big star but he had plenty more years of good movies ahead of him before being diagnosed and subsequently retiring from acting.
Regardless of his illness though, as he puts it in his book he considers himself “a lucky man”.
Both Doc Hollywood the film and “Lucky Man” the Michael J. Fox autobiography are worth checking out.