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Hello all you movie fans I'm Ravi Puri with the Out & About movie review of the transsexual loving Eddie Murphy in Dr. Dolittle. "walk with the animals' talk with the animals.." What would you do if you woke up one day and discovered you could talk to animals and they can talk back? Well comedian Eddie Murphy staring as Dr. Dolittle in the movie Dr. Dolittle and directed by Betty Thomas, isn't quite sure himself and his lines are given to him. The movie begins with the child Dolittle in communication with his dog. The boy's father played by Ossie Davis freaked out by his son's strange behavior gets rid of the dog and brings in an exorcist "make the spirit leave the boy" all in hopes that his introverted son will play and be normal like all the other children. Jump ahead 30 years and Murphy is a typical family man, and a successful doctor in the midst of going HMO with his partners. Murphy now has two daughters one a shy and invert with an attraction to animals. ALL ANIMALS, she even has an egg she found and is trying to hatch it. The other daughter is a obnoxious teenage played by Raven Simone of the Cosby fame and hangin with Mr. Cooper. She adds very little to the storyline other than her line's. The dog is using the battthhrrroommm? This scene already seen in the trailer for the movie. Murphy rediscovers his magic power after hitting a homeless dog with his car. The dog gets up and calls him a BONEHEAD. Murphy believes he is imagining this and shakes it off. Once he discovers he really can understand the animals he doesn't become a changed human being nor does Murphy finally emerge as the funny man we know him to be but turns into a JERK. Then all sorts of animals show up to be healed, after all he is a doctor. T his is where Murphy becomes somewhat human and a little bit comedic but nothing like the Murphy we know and love, or for some of us tolerate. Murphy's wife and business partners have him committed after he gives mouth to mouth to a rat, played beautifully by John Leguizamo, in what turns out to be gas and not a heart attack, then again a veterinarian would be considered nuts if he did that. After nine weeks Murphy concedes and returns to his normal life and ignores what he really knows and oh yah he give s up on his promise to a suicidal tiger that's dying and know one even knows the tiger is in pain. So what do you get when you use the success of that animal movie where the animals could talk, oh what was its name oh yah Babe, a freak success, then the comedic brilliance of Eddie Murphy and an all star cast of voices for the animals, well you get a 20th Century Fox summer flop. This was Hollywood's standard of put all the best lines in the trailer, even take a few out of context for added humor and save nothing for the film. Murphy is less than funny and he doesn't even get a laugh in the trailer. What has always been the success of Murphy as been due to letting him go and do what he does best, Crass, Politically Incorrect humor without guidelines or worry about family values. In Dr. Dolittle he is following a family values guideline and well he is old, he has a teenage daughter. All the rectal jokes are lost without Murphy's out there humor, and with all the jokes given away and Murphy restrained there is nothing left but the storyline and well it's hard to tell if it's a moralistic story on being unique and special or presenting the evils of HMO's. I give this movie a three couches out of 10 for the Out & About rating, and it scored this high only because I like what happened to the egg in the end. So I recommend to those that only tolerate Murphy's humor to wait till it 's out on video and those that love Murphy to go and rent one of his better flicks like Beverly Hills Cop because this was truly a disappointing performance even with the all star line up of Al Brooks, Jenna Elfman, Norm Macdonald and Chris Rock in the role of animals. Also disappointing was the director Betty Thomas who surprised us with Private Parts, also a freak success. This has been Ravi Puri for the Out & About movie review, now on with the show.
Last updated: Thursday, March 20, 2008 02:45:10 AM |