Young Doctors In Love Review

MPAA Rating: R
Released: 1982

Young Doctors In Love is a sorely overlooked gem that mercilessly assaults the funny bone while spoofing hospital dramas such as General Hospital, taking cues from other spoof comedies such as the king of them all: Airplane! Prepare to enter a zany world of horny interns, bumbling hit men, cross-dressers and much more in our Feature Attraction…

I really enjoyed a rather obscure comedy called Young Doctors In Love when I was a kid, but although this film viciously spoofed hospital dramas with its multi-layered comedy it fell under the radar of most movie fans. Although I hoped it would one day hit DVD, I didn't hold my breath since it wasn't a widely recognized 80's film. Recently my hopes came true: Young Doctors In Love is now available for DVD owners (albeit in a full-screen format)!

The film centers on Dr. Joseph Prang (Dabney Coleman), the self-described chief of staff, chief of surgery and chief of busting balls, and a band of wacky young interns including:

Dr. Simon August (Michael McKean) – Brilliant intern that wishes to become the world's greatest surgeon. There are just two problems: he has a terrible bedside manner and a paralyzing fear of slicing anyone due to a childhood trauma involving a piñata.
Dr. Phil Burns (Taylor Negron) – A Latin Romeo that is always nodding off to sleep at the worst times.
Dr. Charles Litto (Kyle Heffner) – Wishes to become an anesthesiologist because he likes to pass gas.
Dr. Milton Chamberlain (Gary Friedkin) – A dwarf that wishes to become a pediatrician.
Dr. Stephanie Brody (Sean Young) – Small town girl that wishes to study in rural medicine so she can start her own clinic in her hometown.
Dr. Buck DeVol (Ted McGinley) – Cocky sports jock that decided to pursue… you guessed it… sports medicine.

Young Doctors In Love works on multiple levels. First it presents some hilarious exchanges between the interns and their persevering instructors, as witnessed in a scene where the interns are observing Dr. Prang perform a tricky surgery:

Dr. Litto: Anesthesiologist. I like to pass gas.
Dr. Prang: Oh, that's wonderful Dr. Litto. We're down here trying to save a man's life and you're up there making fart jokes.

No hospital spoof movie would be complete without an assortment of nutty patients with equally zany maladies, such as this one that a doctor faced:

Doctor to patient: Let me see if I have this straight. You were shaving. You slipped. You cut your nose off. Then you dropped your razor and cut your toe off. The doctor made a mistake and he sewed your toe onto your face and your nose onto your foot and your complaint is that every time you sneeze you blow your shoe off. That's silly.

Yep, it is silly – but that’s what makes Young Doctors In Love so much fun. The film takes the same approach as Airplane! And other spoof comedies by tossing so many jokes at the viewer that even if some fail the viewer will still be gasping for breath from laughing so hard. You will see everything from slapstick physical comedy to twisted word play, and unless you pay close attention to the film chances are good that you will miss many of the background jokes.

There are a couple of plot threads that hold this spoof together, and each presents moments of sheer hilarity. The head of a mafia family, Sal Bonafetti (Titos Vandis), has a stroke that leaves him paralyzed, but when he's checked into the hospital word of it gets out to a rival family that decides to take advantage of the situation by sending a hit man (Michael Richards, who would later forever be known for his role as Kramer on Seinfeld) to take the defenseless mobster out. Yet despite his easy target, the hit man seems to botch each attempt, much to the amusement of his intended victim.

Angelo Bonafetti (Hector Elizondo) regularly visits his father, but in order to keep his profile low he dresses as a woman and adopts the persona of Angela. Unfortunately Dr. Flicker, the attending physician for his father, develops a romantic interest in the foul-mouthed mobster, never realizing that Angela is really a guy. This opens up much comic potential, and the movie doesn't fail to repeatedly grab it.

Flicker: Do you ever sing, or you know… play any instrument?
Angelo: F**king guitar.
Flicker: Is that a special kind of guitar?
Angelo: No, it's regular… I studied as a kid, but then I broke it over my brother's head and I went to work.

The above examples are only the tip of the iceberg; there are many other wacky scenes that are too numerous to mention in a review. What makes the comedy work so well is the cast – each of the actors delivers their lines with near perfect timing and inflection.

If you enjoy spoof comedies such as Airplane, Top Secret, or The Naked Gun then you won't want to miss this hilarious yet little-known gem. Young Doctors In Love might very well have earned a perfect rating had it not started losing some steam during the final 20% or so of the movie, but despite that small disappointment this film will still earn a very respectable…

Movie rating: 8 stars

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