"Cars" is "Doc Hollywood" Remake...

Rating: 5/10 (27 July 2006)

How can it be that no one else has noticed this?!
Plot-for-plot: Doc Stone (Michael J. Fox) is an up-and-coming NY ER doctor, on his way out to California to hit the big time as a plastic surgeon. He gets sidetracked in "Our Town" hell after losing control of his car and wrecking a picket fence. He is sentenced to community service in the local clinic, under the supervision of a crotchety old doctor who -- like Doc Hudson in "Cars" -- has a secret history of glory days, and personal influence reaching as far as Rodeo Drive...
With the help of his budding love interest, Vialula/'Lu' (Julie Warner) -- a local girl who gave up on a promising big-city career to return to the simple pleasures of a small town life -- Stone comes to realize that fame and fortune are *not* what life's all about. He learns that a sense of family and community are what's important, and so, he quits the glamorous lifestyle -- even as it is being offered to him -- and returns to what he now realizes is "Our Town" *heaven*.
Sound familiar?! I don't know how Pixar/Disney aren't getting sued, since there's no mention of "Doc Hollywood" in the story credits...
Having said that, I loved the original "Doc Hollywood" (and I think y'all should rent or buy it) and I enjoyed the story being retold in "Cars". It just spoiled it for me a little that *I already knew the story*...
And it only took me about ten minutes into the movie to realize it. Really transparent.