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Doctor No Good

In "The Good Doctor", Dr. Martin Blake (Orlando Bloom) is a quiet first-year medical student who is what you might expect him to be. He appears to be proficient, sufficiently diligent, and with at least enough caring to be someone you could picture seeing once he becomes a doctor.

When Diane (Riley Keough - Elvis Presley's granddaughter), a young attractive woman, becomes his patient, he is fascinated by her. It's immediately unclear whether it is a sexual attraction or something else. Ms. Keough possesses a similar look to a young Alicia Silverstone, and has a hint of the Sue Lyon character in Lolita. She is not as overtly sexual, but something is smoldering under the hospital gown.

The doctor's obsession with Diane leads him to make some beyond-odd medical decisions. It sets into motion a set of circumstances that find Blake caught in a web that he has created. Instead of doing what would be best for all concerned, he continues on a bewildering path, both professionally and personally. The fact that it is so hard to understand what is driving him makes "The Good Doctor" both frustrating and a curiosity that does hold your attention.

An orderly at the hospital (who is looking for a party wherever he goes) happens into Blake's web and he seizes the opportunity to make the most out of it for himself. Blake's interaction with the orderly takes a turn that makes no sense, because Blake could have snuffed out any potential problems by handing the situation more intelligently. But maybe the point here is that Blake, quiet, unassuming, and normal to most everyone, is actually suffering from something that cannot be explained away all that simply.

I had a tremendous amount of mixed feelings about "The Good Doctor". It's certainly not a great film, but it's just as distinctly not an ordinarily bland one either. I'm going to give a very lukewarm endorsement and tell you that you could do a lot worse than having this one prescribed to you.