I'm giving this five stars for the acting and interesting characters but this felt like a TV pilot. And, like a TV pilot, it simply ended! It was very odd.

A big-city Pediatrician goes to the back woods to care for all the hillbilly locals and finds some joy after the death of his wife, and meets a really cute lady. And, as I mentioned before, then it ended!

I am not familiar with the leading man, played by Cameron Bancroft. He was likable enough. However, the supporting cast was top-notch and very likable. Amber Benson has a nice, but small role as a hillbilly new mom. She's always wonderful!

The acting is for the most part terrible. The story is totally improbable -- that a doctor would be sent to a small town to get over the death of his wife is unlikely. That he would agree to go without making any plans for what his son will do is hardly believable. But most of all, the depiction of the mountain people in North Carolina is deplorable -- good hard-working friendly people are presented as suspicious, stupid and crude. Just because some of the people here are not highly educated does not make them hill-billy rubes. The people here respect and honor the natural beauty of these mountains. Ahtough this was filmed in my beautiful community, I can't believe the writer of this story ever set foot in the mountains.

Simple Things promises to be an uplifting story on the familiar theme of the big-city doctor learning life lessons in a small town. Yes, the theme's been overdone (think Doc Elliot, Doctor Quinn: Medicine Woman, Doc Hollywood, and the excellent Everwood), but it still has potential. Unfortunately, Simple Things realizes none of it. It's based on a book of short stories "Through the Window of Childhood," but Simple Things treats the story of the doctor's son as a fitfully visited subplot, despite the fact that the children turn in the only good performances in the movie. (Nicole Channing's performance is actually stunning ... her career is one to watch.)

Cameron Bancroft is completely wooden in his role, and does more than the rest of the cast put together to murder the movie. He curiously displays no interest in helping his mourning son, and never even touches him except during a medical emergency. The other adult actors are poor as well. Bellamy Young comes across as an annoying goody two-shoes in the role of the town's mayor.

Finally, the message is hopelessly muddled. Is it about opening yourself up to the people you serve, or doing everything you can to win the big promotion?