An 'Airplane!'-style spoof of hospital soap operas—a brilliant young trainee can't stand the sight of blood; a doctor romances the head nurse in order to get the key to the drugs cabinet; and there's a mafioso on the loose disguised as a woman.
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Reviews
Good story, Not enough for a whole film
A brilliant film that helped define a genre
If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
This is one of a dime a dozen spoof. It has it's moment and it helps to indulge in a big fat one before viewing. Don't spend half an ounce ont it tought.
In the tradition of other spoof movies, "Young Doctors in Love", a skewering of medical soap operas such as 'General Hospital', is the kind of thing that does require some attention to be paid, as there's a fair amount of detail to its presentation. It's handled by a group of TV veterans - Garry Marshall made his theatrical directing debut here, and the writers are Michael Elias and Rich Eustis, who also pack the movie with cameos by actual soap opera actors (you get to see a very young Demi Moore, who at the time was on GH). The main story line is of an arrogant, insufferable prick, Simon August (Michael McKean) who wants to be a top surgeon but who is scarred by a childhood prank, and the fellow doctor he loves, Stephanie Brody (Sean Young, looking just beautiful) and attempts to save after realizing she needs special surgery. Some gags are good, such as the pitiful fate of terminally unlucky hit man Malamud (Michael Richards, long before 'Seinfeld'), although it's some of the throwaway gags and lines that are the funniest. References to pop culture of the time are there, such as a line involving "E.T.". There's also the standard device of the popular man-in-drag idea as gangster Hector Elizondo (who as we all know became Marshall's good luck charm in all of his movies) disguises as a woman in order to smuggle his sickly dad (Titos Vandis), who's been targeted by other mob families, into the hospital. There aren't many performers here who did little else of note, and people will have a high old time noting all of the familiar faces. Ted McGinley, Taylor Negron, and Rick Overton are among the group of doctors, Dabney Coleman is the stressed out guy in charge, Patrick Macnee is utterly wasted in a next to nothing part, Crystal Bernard is an underage prostitute, Harry Dean Stanton is the expert in tasting bodily fluids, and Pamela Reed the dorky nurse who blossoms when she thinks Negron's doctor is interested in her (really, he just wants the key to the drug cabinet). It's a bit of a revelation that this first effort from Marshall is so unabashedly R rated with its sexual jokes and liberal use of profanity. It's not always terribly successful, but it does generate a pretty respectable amount of genuine laughs. What's amusing is the device it employs at the end, which we see sometimes in film, when the fates of the characters after the events of the movie are revealed, and the actors also get a roll call as well, which is nice. While "Young Doctors in Love" doesn't set off any real comedy fireworks, it's still not bad at all, and does present a respectable effort to go for a certain zaniness, even if it's not on the level of a "Blazing Saddles", "Young Frankenstein", or "Naked Gun". Generally likable. Seven out of 10.
In 1982, "General Hospital" was the number one rated daytime soap opera. In 1980, "Airplane!" had rocked the box office with its zany spoofing of disaster movies. This comedy film tries to apply an "Airplane"-like sense of humor to a hospital setting, using some soap opera stars in cameo appearances to add to the fun. The film opens on New Years Eve with a passel of new interns arriving for their stint. McKean is a know-it-all, Young is a small town girl, Friedkin is a little person, McGinley a stud, Negron a near zombie from working three jobs, and so on. They are governed over by such doctors as Macnee, as a lecher, Coleman, as an egotist and Stanton, as a drunken, disheveled coroner. Reed plays an uptight head nurse. One chief plot line concerns gangster Vandis who is admitted with paralysis and then hounded by hapless hit man Richards as his foul-mouthed son Elizondo visits in disguise (which, in this case, is a thick blonde wig and the latest in ladies wear!) A romance burgeons between McKean and Young, Elizondo finds his father's doctor becoming attracted to him and Negron uses Reed to secure stimulant drugs to help him get through his long days. Throughout all this, snippets of hospital jokes feature soap stalwarts such as Beradino, Robinson, Damon, Zeman and others. La Lucci shows up briefly in a party scene with her future fellow "Dancing with the Stars" contestant McGinley. Like "Airplane!," there is often as much going on in the background of scenes as there is in the front. The jokes range from subtle to over-the-top, many of them missing the mark, though that is the case in virtually all of the films of this type ("Hot Shots", "The Naked Gun", etc ) Elizondo in drag is something that everyone ought to see (and, remarkably, he underplays it) and veterans Stanton and Coleman get some decent comedy licks in along the way. Reed is very amusing, especially before her character is transformed. However, the film is very much of its time and many contemporary viewers will be either bored or baffled by some of the gags. What really gives the movie value now is seeing some of these stars when they were young and also seeing the wide array of character performers near the start of their careers. Some of the lesser known performers such as Overton, Heffner and Rubinek are still working regularly today. Macnee's part is so negligible that it seems as if he was cut out at some point. The score, by Maurice Jarre, is effective, despite occasional echoes of his work on more sweeping epics such as "Doctor Zhivago" (which, considering that that's one of his most known scores, may be a bit of a gag in itself!)
This must be the funniest movie of all time. If you liked Airplane, Hot Shots and Naked Gun, you will then love this movie. You will laugh until you cry and then you will laugh some more. An easy 10/10. There should have been a sequel. Well I hope I have changed someones mind. I think the rating is incorrect. Please only people that have seen the movie should rate it