# Doctor Dolittle (1998)

### reviewed by
Homer Yen

    "Doctor" Do Little

Cats meow; dogs bark, birds chirp, and tigers roar. Have you ever wondered what they might be saying to us? For Dr. John Dolittle (Eddie Murphy), he possesses a very special ability. He can actually understand them. And those animals can also understand the Doctor. Imagine the kind of unique information that they may hold. A woodland owl may tell of how its forest habitat is being destroyed. Stray cats could reveal where illegal activity may be taking place in some darkened alleyway. Perhaps the Doctor could do something to save an endangered species with his unique communications skills or help to unravel the mysteries of the animal kingdom. But this film never gets even close to the possibilities that naturally present itself.

"Doctor Dolittle" is about a successful, straight-as-an-arrow doctor who is too absorbed with his work. But that is just fine for his fellow co-worker Mark Weller (Oliver Platt), since they are about to ink a lucrative deal to sell their practice. After a traffic accident, however, Dolittle is rekindled with his gift of gab. Shock and hysteria begin to settle in as he tries to push these unexplainable voices from his head. Dolittle carries on conversations with, among others, a stray dog (voiced by an acerbic-sounding Norm MacDonald) and a hip-hop talking hamster (voiced by Chris Rock). This weird behavior alarms Weller as this jeopardizes the deal. But Dolittle begins to develop a renewed sense of passion for his work knowing that he can help to heal animals too. Now all he must do is convince his family, co-workers and other skeptics that he's not crazy.

Dolittle, the character and Murphy, the actor suffer from similar scenarios. They both make decisions that elicit disbelief. The biggest problem here is that we have a 30-minute scenario stretched into a feature-length film. And, the movie just isn't all that interesting. The talking animals amounted to little more than a gimmick. No real bond is established between man and animal. We just get a bunch of unfunny sequences featuring talking animals. Witness the scene at a the vet's waiting room where animals discuss their ailments and another extended sequence in Dolittle's house where a gallery of animals come for some medical attention. Celebrity voice-overs try to make these animals sound funny (contributions from Julie Kavner, Albert Brooks, John Leguizamo, Paul Reubens, and others), but most of the dialogue is a real bore. Also appallingly odd for a Disney film, the movie seemed to lack the energy, magic and warmth that we have come to expect from their studio.

Murphy does a charming job, but he just doesn't have enough material to work with here. Perhaps the funniest thing about this movie is the inclusion of Oliver Platt, who seems relegated to playing perpetually worried sidekicks. Though a fine actor, he really looks like he wants to be somewhere else. Somewhere else is where you should be too.

    Grade: C-

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