Doctor Dolittle (1998)
Director: Betty Thomas Cast: Eddie Murphy, Ossie Davis, Oliver Platt, Richard Schiff, Kristen Wilson, Jeffrey Tambor, Kyla Pratt Screenplay: Nat Mauldin, Larry Levin Producers: John Davis, David T. Friendly, Joseph Singer Runtime: 85 min. US Distribution: 20th Century Fox Rated PG-13: crude humor, language
By Nathaniel R. Atcheson (nate@pyramid.net)
I almost began this review writing something like, "Pigeons defecating on Oliver Platt's face is not a funny sight," but then I remembered that there were, in fact, people in the theater laughing as this statement becomes reality in the final moments of Doctor Dolittle. I don't want to sound condescending, because there are clearly people in the world who will find this to be a good family film (Roger Ebert, for instance, actually *liked* it). I felt kind of the same way I did as I watched Flubber, which is unbearable in many of the same ways.
Doctor Dolittle is not a funny film. It has entertaining moments, and I might have chuckled once or twice, but mostly I was just bored. It's under 90 minutes, which I found to be a blessing, even though it feels a little longer than Lawrence of Arabia (but without the excitement). It's a one-joke movie (talking animals!), in which the joke gets old almost as it's told -- it's not cute, or fun, and it substitutes trite sentimentality for Deep Themes and Messages. The only thing I felt as I walked out of the theater was the urge to vomit, and I'm not exaggerating.
Eddie Murphy, seemingly unmoved by the fact that his roles no longer require his comic talents as an actor, plays John Dolittle. It's established that he could talk to animals as a child, but a nasty preacher scared the talent out of him. Now, as the preview shouts, "the doctor is in!" (I don't know what that has to do with anything, but I though it would make a nice quote). His talent is back, and he finds that animals are going to him with their problems.
Some animals are easy to repair, like the owl with a stick in its wing. Then there are the harder ones, like the suicidal tiger (voice by Albert Brooks). It might be totally useless to bother with the logistical errors of the film, but, frankly, they irritated me. Now, when was the last time you saw a tiger attempt suicide? And by jumping off a building? Don't bother answering that, for I doubt many people have. The animals in this film don't act like animals -- they act like people trapped in the bodies of animals.
So, no one believes poor Dolittle, and he gets put in a mental institution, because he's a danger to himself and to everyone around him. What I didn't understand is why Dolittle was also the only person who could see the animal's lips moving. I'll buy the fact that he's the only one who can hear their voices, but their lips are clearly moving. Why can't anyone else see that? The film is so poorly conceived that even a minor problem like this is simply ignored, as if no one will care. I really hope someone else does.
Now, like all stupid wannabe family films, I'll say that I would have looked past all these problems had the film something to offer. Paulie, which was another talking animal thingy, was a nice film, with a little wit and a lot more entertainment value (and I buy a talking parrot more than anything presented in Doctor Dolittle). This film, directed by Betty Thomas, is boring. The animals may have a few good lines, and some of the special effects are easy on the eyes. But, most obvious is the lack of energy out of Murphy, and the general lack of intelligence in the film.
And, of course, it resorts to defecation for laughs. Feces is never funny, and especially when it's splashed on the face of an actor as talented as Oliver Platt (who is shamelessly wasted here). Why do "family" films have to fall back on this kind of material? Had the talking animals bit been done more competently, then feces and flatulence would not have been necessary. Kids were laughing at the things I thought were amusing here, so I'm going to hold with the belief that feces is not necessary to entertain children. You can call me old-fashioned for thinking that kids deserve more than this.
* out of **** (2/10, D-)
Visit FILM PSYCHOSIS at http://www.pyramid.net/natesmovies
Nathaniel R. Atcheson
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews