The Doctor's Secret: Quack Medicine and Family Drama

Is this worth a watch?

Honestly? Only if you have a soft spot for grainy, old-school British comedy-dramas. If you’re looking for a tight, polished story, you’re gonna be bored stiff. But if you like seeing how movies used to just sort of... happen, without worrying about pacing or logic, this one’s fine.

It’s a bit of a relic. Don't expect Fast and Furious levels of energy here. It’s much slower. Much weirder.

The Medicine Show Vibe

There’s this one sequence early on with the medicine show that felt like it went on for about twenty minutes. The monkey is cute, I guess? But watching these actors try to sell snake oil to a crowd that clearly doesn't care is just awkward. It feels like they were filming in someone’s backyard and just hoped for the best.

Bill Blake, played by Leslie Fuller, is the kind of guy who talks a mile a minute. You can see the movie trying so hard to make him lovable, but he’s basically just a guy lying to poor folks for pennies. It’s tough to root for him, but maybe that’s the point?

Oddly Specific Details

• The monkey really steals every scene it is in. It’s the best actor in the bunch.
• The rival character is so cartoonishly evil it feels like he wandered in from a different, worse movie.
• The hospital scenes look like they were lit by a single candle. You can barely see the nurses!

I couldn't help but think about how much this reminded me of the messy, low-stakes energy in Scandal. There’s no urgency. Things just kind of trot along until they hit a plot point they didn't really earn.

Ronnie’s struggle between his honest career and his dad’s grifting is supposed to be the heavy stuff. But it’s hard to take seriously when the dad is currently trying to hide a monkey in a coat pocket. The tone is all over the place. One minute it’s a light comedy, the next it’s a family drama.

I don't think the writers knew what they wanted to say. It’s like they had a bunch of loose pages and just stapled them together. Still, there’s something weirdly cozy about it. It doesn’t feel like it’s trying to sell you anything more than just a bit of time to kill.

Don't look for deep meaning. Just look for the monkey. It’s better that way. 🐒