Dolittle (2020)

By: Mike Ward on Friday, January 17

PG Running Time: 101 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

  • On paper, a remake of Dr. Dolittle, with the quick-witted, often funny Robert Downey, Jr. looks like a can’t miss prospect.

  • It’s January, the weather isn’t great in a lot of places and a good escape to the movie house is probably in order. At least kids will like this (maybe…).

  • The cast list is rather impressive, even in a “voicing over talking animals” kind of way.

NO

  • This seems like a film snake-bitten (no pun intended) from the very beginning. A major misfire.

  • For a film which cost nearly approximately $175 million, the visual effects are not up to par, the continuity errors are glaring, and is Robert Downey, Jr.’s performance overdubbed in post-production or just not synced correctly in certain moments?

  • Dolittle is a chore to sit through. It is seldom funny, fitfully boring, and seems completely mishandled by the credited (and uncredited second director) trying to steer this thing through to the finish line.


OUR REVIEW

Don’t little. Do-Not. Do-Less. And on and on.

The childish, impish puns write themselves far too easily as you wade into the world of Dolittle, a baffling, uninspired, and rather strange remake that sees Robert Downey, Jr. stumbling around as a reclusive veterinarian in Victorian England, who can talk to animals.

From the outset, the film shows us how Downey’s Dolittle becomes a widower, eventually dissolves into excess, seems to recoil from hygiene, and inhabits a Wonka-like disappearance from the world. Embedded behind a gated home, we discover him with scraggly hair, a nasty beard, and the appearance that he has not bathed in weeks (months, perhaps?).

Living and being cared for by many different animals, he seems to be the least desirable person in the world to be around. And though he is not making chocolate rivers and employing Oompa Loompas, his disdain for the world and anyone who could visit him seems lifted straight out of Roald Dahl’s classic storybook.

The story within this particular Dolittle film is rudimentary at best: Queen Victoria (Jessie Buckley) is in in a coma and two children will arrive at different times to request Dr. Dolittle’s help. A girl, Lady Rose (Carmel Laniado), as a go-get-em member of the royal family, seeks the doctor’s help, while a teenage boy, who dreams of being a vet himself, Stubbins (Harry Collett), has accidentally shot a squirrel with a BB-gun pellet and the small animal needs immediate medical help.

As an example of the lack of detail-oriented writing, Stubbins is on a hunting trip with his family and wanders off with the squirrel and no one even bothers to look for him, even after he settles in with Dolittle and they go on an adventure to find an antidote to waken the comatose Queen.

We get talking animals (and a dragon!?!?), voiced by a menagerie of talent, including Oscar winners Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, and Marion Cotillard, as well as Tom Holland, Ralph Fiennes, John Cena, Kumail Nanjiani, Craig Robinson, Selena Gomez, Jason Mantzoukas, and Octavia Spencer, among others. Antonio Banderas, in human form, pops in for something or other.

Michael Sheen and Jim Broadbent have connections to the ailing Queen, and Downey spits out a strange English-influenced accent that seems to be caught in his throat and snipped off at every other syllable. Worse yet, he seems to have overdubbed his lines, with several anachronistic examples where sound and voice seem to be out of sync.

For it’s massive budget, Dolittle has a handful of embarrassingly cheap looking visual effects and seemingly cannot even get Stubbins’ hairstyles matched in several shots in the film’s opening minutes. Ultimately, this whole endeavor feels unfocused, rushed, and sloppy, which is largely unforgivable.

Because talking animals are often intriguing and the voice talent might sound familiar, Dolittle may keep the interest of kids far longer than their checked out adult counterparts. Then again, trying to figure out just what Downey is trying to do with a truly odd, bumbling performance might be a fun diversion. At least for a while.

$175 million just doesn’t buy what it used to I suppose.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Robert Downey, Jr., Michael Sheen, Jim Broadbent, Harry Collett, Carmel Laniado, Antonio Banderas, Jessie Buckley, Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, John Cena, Kumail Nanjiani, Octavia Spencer, Tom Holland, Craig Robinson, Ralph Fiennes, Selena Gomez, Marion Cotillard, Jason Mantzoukas, Ralph Ineson, Frances de la Tour, Kasia Smutniak, Joanna Page.

Director: Stephen Gaghan
Written by: Stephen Gaghan, Dan Gregor, Doug Mand (screenplay); Thomas Shepherd (screen story).
Adapted, in part, from “The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle” by Hugh Lofting.
Release Date: January 17, 2020
Universal Pictures