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.
