The saga of well-qualified doctors from other countries having trouble being a doctor in Canada is well-known. Dr. Cabbie puts a spin asking what happens when a doctor becomes a cab driver who then works as a doctor from his cab.
The newly licensed doctor Dr. Deepak Veer Chopra (Vinay Virmani) becomes a doctor in India and is excited about practicing in Canada. His mother Nellie Chopra (Indian actor Lillete Dubey) is also coming to Canada, sponsored by his uncle Vijay Sharma (Rizwan Manji).
The good doctor struggles in working in his uncle's restaurant. He then meets a cabbie named Tony (English actor Kunal Nayyar) who introduces him to a whole new world as a cab driver.
The rom-com motive kicks in when Natalie, the woman he met earlier (American actor Adrianne Palicki), ends up in the cab, very pregnant, and about to give birth.
The baby's father Colin (Chris Diamantopoulos) is a jerk only interested in the baby as a political stunt while running to be mayor (presumably of Toronto). Colin will prove to be a thorn in people's sides but the twists and turns in this film don't require any Dramamine.
Dubey does very well as Deepak's mother Nellie. Manji (Schitt's Creek) has a lot of fun as Deepak's uncle Vijay. American actor Mircea Monroe gives life to what could have been a thankless role as Rani, Vijay's much younger wife and former stripper. Stephen McHattie has little to do but plays up his grumpy character with flair.
The best part of this film is the Bollywood type scenes and flair. Natalie is surprised how large Deepak's "small" birthday party happens to be. He says small in Indian terms.
Vinay Virmani, the lead actor, actually came up with the story idea. The screenplay comes from Manu Chopra and Ron Kennell with direction from Jean-François Pouliot. The script is geared toward the rom-com with small holes here and there if you are paying strict attention.
The film is a Canada-India-U.S. co-production. Toronto is on full display with lovely small details such as Tony and Deepak living above Hey, Meatball. The actual restaurant existed on College Street while shooting the 2014 film.
CanadianCrossing.com film reviews
CanadianCrossing.com film coverage
The presentation is pleasant. Virmani is a lovable lead. Nayyar is having a lot of fun in this film. The female characters have substance. Enough laughter and love in an above-average rom-com film.
Dr. Cabbie is available on CBC Gem in Canada and Amazon Prime Video in the United States.
video credit: YouTube/eOne Films Canada
photo credit: Dr. Cabbie
Comments