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Review

The Doctor’s Wife, a new feature-length documentary from Australia, follows gay couple Jonathan Duffy (the film’s director) and Vincent Cornelisse. Faced with huge bills after medical school, Vincent began considering taking a job working as a small-town doctor in exchange for financial support and student loan relief. This would require the couple to leave the comfort of their home in the city of Brisbane and move to the small country town of Mundubbera in Queensland – where the total population consists of roughly one thousand people.

Accustomed to life in the big city, Jonathan and Vincent found the prospect of moving to a small-town nerve-wracking. Their chief concern was that the social climate might be less than welcoming of gay couples. When they got there, however, they found that the residents were, for the most part, far more progressive than they had originally imagined. The real conflict came when Vincent had to start spending most of his time building up his practice – leaving Jonathan to act out the role of a lonely housewife.

Bored at home and lacking a feeling of purpose, Jonathan decided to put his theatrical background to good use by forming an arts initiative and teaching local kids. If he was going to be forced to play “The Doctor’s Wife,” then why not get involved in the bettering the community like a well-to-do female socialite? Once he began leaving a friendly impression on his neighbors, the couple’s entire living situation began to take a brighter turn.

Anyone who has ever lived in a small town won’t find that this film has anything particularly unusual to say. There are countless LGBT couples living in small towns all over the world who can attest to both the ignorance and kindness of other residents. Duffy even begins The Doctor’s Wife by announcing via voice-over that, in his mind, he hasn’t done anything all that special.

The film, though not very original in content, offers playful cinematic techniques that keep the story engaging. It doesn’t hurt that Duffy himself (a spotlight-hog with a flair for melodrama who claims that, when he opens his mouth, "Judy Garland’s purse falls out") and his equally charming interview subjects seem like a lot of fun to spend time with. The Doctor’s Wife will manage hold your attention, even if it isn’t presenting you with anything new.

 -- Robert O'Neill