The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Animal magnetism
‘Dolittle’ can be a bit of a zoo, but its sense of humor makes it hard to resist
Before seeing “Dolittle” — the decent new family film inspired by author Hugh Lofting’s century-old tales about an English doctor who could communicate with animals — do yourself a favor: study the movie’s IMDb entry. ¶ A mix of live action and computer-generated effects, “Dolittle” boasts the very-recognizable Robert Downey Jr. in the titular role but also a voice cast absolutely crammed with well-known names. And, considering few of the vocal performers get all that many lines as the animals talking back to Dolittle, it can be borderline distracting to try to identify each of them, be she or he Emma Thompson, Tom Holland, Octavia Spencer, Ralph Fiennes, Selena Gomez or Marion Cotillard, to name but a few.
This latest big-screen adaptation of Lofting’s stories — before the “Dr. Dolittle” movie series of the late 1990s and 2000 starring Eddie Murphy, there was the 1967 musical “Doctor Dolittle” with Rex Harrison — is set years after the death of Dr. John Dolittle’s wife, Lily (Kasia Smutniak).
“His days belonged to the animals, but his heart belonged to a woman,” Thompson’s headstrong parrot, Polynesia, aka “Poly,” tells us in a bit of expositionheavy opening narration. After Lily’s death at sea — although they shared many adventures, she insisted this time Dolittle stay behind at Dolittle Manor to care for the animals that meant so much to both of them — Dolittle has hidden himself away behind the manor’s high walls, with only the animals of myriad species to keep him company.
Dolittle has become quite disheveled and spends his time on activities such as using mice to play checkers with anxious, self-conscious gorilla CheeChee (Rami Malek of “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Mr. Robot”).
His semi-solitude is interrupted when Poly leads a boy, Stubbins (Harry Collett of “Dunkirk”), to the manor after the regretful young man had shot a squirrel while hunting with his uncle (Ralph Ineson). (When his uncle provided him with a knife to end the animal’s suffering, Stubbins couldn’t do the deed and went looking for help for the creature.)
Before making it to Dolittle, Stubbins encounters the similarly young Lady Rose (Carmel Laniado of FX’s “A Christmas Carol”), who’s also seeking help from the doctor, and they approach the entrance to the manor together.
“I’m prepared for anything,” Stubbins declares to his new female friend. However, when CheeChee opens the door, both male primates shriek in terror. It’s one of several fun moments in “Dolittle.”
Although the irked Dolittle performs surgery on the squirrel we will come to know as Kevin (Craig Robinson, “Dolemite Is My Name”) — who will spend much of the remainder of the affair fearful Stubbins wants to “finish the job” — he refuses the request of
Lady Rose: that he come to Buckingham Palace to treat the gravely ill Queen Victoria (Jessie Buckley of “Wild Rose”), proclaiming he cares only for himself and animals, not other humans, these days.
However, Poly explains to him that if the queen dies, control of the animal preserve on which the manor sits will transfer to the English
treasury and he and the animals will be out of a home.
“I knew I shouldn’t have let monkeys proofread the contract,” he laments.
After a meeting with the queen and a sniff-centric diagnosis by Jip (Holland, “Spider-Man: Far From Home” and the recent “Spies in Disguise”), Dolittle’s bespeckled long-haired lurcher dog, Dolittle, Stubbins and most of the animals venture off on a voyage to find the exotic medicine needed to cure her. Rose and Jip are left behind to watch the queen, and with good reason: Palace physician Dr. Blair Mudfly, a rival of Dolittle’s from their university days, is poisoning the monarch.
Dolittle’s adventure, with constant interference from Mudfly will bring him into contact with, among other characters, James, a fungoofy dragonfly voiced by Jason Mantzoukas (Netflix’s “Big Mouth”); Lily’s fearsome father, the pirate king Rassouili (Antonio Banderas (“Puss in Boots”); Barry (Fiennes of the “Harry Potter” movies), a tiger with mommy issues (“No one I eat will EVER be good enough,” he moans); and an ancient dragon with gastrointestinal distress (Frances de la Tour of “Alice in Wonderland”).
“Dolittle” suffers, a bit, from having so many characters, so many moving parts. Most problematically, it leaves its main character underdeveloped, despite a reasonably enjoyable performance from “Avengers: Endgame” star Downey in his first post-Marvel Cinematic Universe affair.
Even with its faults, the script from director Stephen Gaghan and the writing duo of Dan Gregor and Doug Mand (“How I Met Your Mother”), with the story credited to Thomas Shepherd, packs in smileinducing events and character interactions. For instance,
“Dolittle” suffers, a bit, from having so many characters, so many moving parts.
a rivalry between cynical, neurotic ostrich Plimpton (Kumail Nanjiani, “The Big Sick”) and confident polar bear Yoshi (John Cena, “Bumblebee”) is fun — and pays off with one of the movie’s best one-liners.
All in all, it’s a lot of madness reined in fairly well by Gaghan, known best for dramas “Syriana” and “Traffic” (writer only). With so many talking animals to deal with, Gaghan loses the momentum of the story from time to time, but “Dolittle” should prove to be entertaining to a wide range of folks.
Maybe to animals, too.