DOCTOR DOLITTLE (1998)
Rating: 3.0 stars (out of 4.0) ******************************** Key to rating system: 2.0 stars - Debatable 2.5 stars - Some people may like it 3.0 stars - I liked it 3.5 stars - I am biased in favor of the movie 4.0 stars - I felt the movie's impact personally or it stood out ********************************* A Movie Review by David Sunga
Directed by: Betty Thomas
Written by: Nat Mauldin and Larry Levin
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Kyla Pratt, Oliver Platt, the voice of Chris Rock as a hamster
Ingredients: Physician who talks to animals, dog, hamster, tiger
Synopsis: When he was a kid John Dolittle could talk to animals, but as the adult Doctor John Dolittle, the memory is completely repressed. One day, after he drives his little daughter off to camp, John suffers a bump on the head that revives his ability to understand what animals are saying. When people don't understand Dolittle's strange new behavior, it leads to a lot of comedic situations - - like getting put in the looney bin, hiding a circus tiger within his health clinic, giving CPR to a rat, and being chased by the police.
Meanwhile, other situations are complicating Dolittle's life. For example, a big, unethical HMO is trying to buy out his humble health clinic. And DoLittle's smart little daughter is being cruelly shunned by kids at camp.
Can the good doctor straighten out the situations and also cope with the emergence of his peculiar talent?
Opinion: There's a scene in this movie where Eddie Murphy, as Dr. Dolittle, is in his car, and he blasts the radio and overspeeds to drown out the sound of a hamster's voice because he doesn't want to believe that the hamster is talking to him. The loud car comes peeling into his daughter's camp, and we all get a big laugh because dear old "Dad" is all of a sudden acting so nutty. Yet just a few years ago, Murphy seemed typecast to play wisecracking macho characters (METRO and BEVERLY HILLS COP) who always blasted the radio and sped down the street.
When saw that scene in DOCTOR DOLITTLE, I was impressed because Murphy plays a such believable dad, not to mention the acting job of having to pretend to talk to animatronic puppets and look credible. This summer must be Murphy's year, because he's doing a fantastic job in both DOCTOR DOLITTLE and MULAN. Wow!
Some of the humor is low brow (burps, farts, dogs complaining about enemas, etc.) but the overall theme ("we should accept people as they are") of DOCTOR DOLITTLE is heartwarming.
Reviewed by David Sunga July 1, 1998
Copyright © 1998 by David Sunga This review and others like it can be found at THE CRITIC ZOO: http://www.criticzoo.com email: zookeeper@criticzoo.com
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