Physician-turned-filmmaker Thomas Lilti infuses disease-of-the-week melodrama into a “passing the torch” tale in this curiously lightweight story about Jean-Pierre (François Cluzet), a provincial doctor diagnosed with cancer who is assigned a pretty assistant physician named Nathalie (Marianne Denicourt). While willing to undergo treatment in the city, Jean-Pierre steadfastly refuses to curtail his rural practice, continuing to make house calls while keeping his condition secret from everyone, even Nathalie and his aged mother. The Country Doctor is extremely episodic, featuring subplots about individual patients—a mentally-challenged boy obsessed with World War I, a poor pregnant girl and her nasty boyfriend, a bed-ridden nonagenarian whose in-house care is becoming increasingly untenable—as well as others involving the mayor's desire to modernize medical treatment in the district. The dominant arc, however, centers on Jean-Pierre's realization that Nathalie is not just competent but a kindred spirit who he comes to accept as a genuine partner. This is a pleasant movie in which the provincial milieu is nicely captured, but like so many films about illness, it underplays the effects of serious disease and treatment—Jean-Pierre goes about his usual routine with few signs of debilitation, apart from the occasional frown. But while hardly realistic, it does serve up an agreeable portrait of a pair of dedicated doctors. A strong optional purchase. (F. Swietek)
The Country Doctor
Icarus</span>, 102 min., in French w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $26.99, July 25 Volume 32, Issue 5
The Country Doctor
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