Doc Holliday (2023) - Once Upon a Time in a Western

Tom Zembrod is Doc Holliday, going about his days blissfully drunk and yanking teeth in Georgia when he gets an unexpected visitor.

It’s Wyatt Earp, and he’s looking for help tracking down the notorious Bridle brothers — Jeffrey and John — the most notorious stagecoach robbers in the West.

Seems they recently took a break from robbing stages to rob, assault and then kill two frontier folk — an elderly man and his pretty daughter.

And if Doc agrees to help, he’ll receive a handsome stipend of $1,000 and a deputy’s badge once the mission is complete.

After another sleepless night wrestling with his inner demons, Doc mounts his horse and leaves dentistry behind, at least for a spell.

He’ll turn to an old preacher friend for help finding his prey. And the ghost of his lover to keep tracking them when the going gets tough.

Tom Zembrod as Doc Holliday, staring down an adversary in a gunfight in Doc Holliday (2023)

Derrick Redford as Wyatt Earp, offering to overlook the murder of two black boys if Doc Holliday will help bring the Bridle brothers to justice in Doc Holliday (2023)

Review:

Looking for a Western with poor cinematography, unconvincing sets, amateurish action scenes and a hero who can’t be on screen for two minutes without taking a swig from a bottle of whiskey?

If so, this is the film for you. But here’s guessing most viewers will be fed up after watching Doc Holliday stumble around his hometown drunk for the first 30 minutes of the movie.

Tom Zembrod’s Doc Holliday isn’t the type of character you’re likely to care about, whether he lives or dies. But since he and Wyatt Earp just met, and they haven’t been to the O.K. Corral yet … well, there goes any suspense.

Meanwhile, the script will have you wondering WTF. Repeatedly.

Need examples? Wyatt convinces Doc to track down the Bridle brothers with details of a double murder that he couldn’t possibly know since he wasn’t there and the victims died at the scene. Doc turns to a preacher(!) to set up a meeting with bandits(!) that might know where the Bridle brothers are. One bandit balks because Doc might be a Doc, but he’s also a stranger.

And in the final showdown, Doc magically knows the brother hiding behind a tree is John Bridle, though he’s never met the Bridle brothers before.

Oh, and Wyatt Earp visits Doc’s dental office in Georgia as though he could hop a plane to Atlanta any ol’ time he pleased. Wow!

Want to know the best news of all? There’s going to be a Doc Holliday 2. Can’t wait.

Stephen Brodie as John Bridle, threatening a poor pioneer girl and her father in Doc Holliday (2023)

Billy Blair as Jeffrey Bridle, realizing Doc Holliday is on his trail in Doc Holliday (2023)

Directed by:
Brett Bentman

Cast:
Tom Zembrod … Doc Holliday
Billy Blair … Jeffrey Bridle
Stephen Brodie … John Bridle
Robert Keith … Pastor Willingham
Derrick Redford … Wyatt Earp
Tiffany McDonald … Georgia
James Storm … Jack Sullivan
Suzanne Racz … Carleen
Andy Anderson … Dental patient
Dylan Hobbs … Bill Potts

Runtime: 92 min.

Robert Keith as Pastor Willingham, the man who helps Doc Holliday locate the Bridle brothers in Doc Holliday (2023)

Suzanne Racz as Carleen, Doc Holliday’s lover, appearing as an apparition to offer words of encouragement in Doc Holliday (2023)

Memorable lines:

Doc Holliday to a patient, after pulling his tooth: “Don’t be sore. Every trail has its puddles.”

Doc Holliday to Wyatt Earp: “You lawmen are easy to spot. All hat and no cattle.”

Bandit #1 of Doc Holliday: “Is he a real doctor?”
Pastor Willingham: “Indeed, he is.”
Bandit #2: “Well, he looks like a stranger to me.”

Carleen, appearing as a ghost by Doc’s campfire: “Failure can be temporary. But quitting, quitting lasts a lifetime. The Doc Holliday I know would never admit to only being good at gambling and gunfights. You were born to be a deputy. To protect people. Failures? Finger posts on the road to glory.”

John Bridle: “I ain’t gonna hang for killin’ no deputy.”
Jeffrey Bridle: “You heard Sullivan. He ain’t no deputy yet. He’s just a dentist.”

Wyatt Earp: “My brother’s excited to meet you.”
Doc Holliday: “Why’s that?”
Wyatt Earp: “He’s got a wisdom tooth needs pulled.”