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| Brett S.
Harrison |
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| DR. DOLITTLE 2 If you’re looking for the irreverent Eddie Murphy of old, this is not the movie to see him in. I suggest you go down the hall at your local cineplex to catch him (or his voice) in Shrek. However if you’re looking for a movie to take the family to you could do much worse. That is, of course, if you don’t mind being subjected to the maximum amount of toilet humor allowed by law. It’s as if the writers had a special pizza party/all night session just to come up with urination and flatulence jokes. Dr. Dolittle gets a visit from a shifty raccoon who brings with him an invitation to visit the Beaver, a Godfather type figure who runs the forest with an iron paddle. As the raccoon says, “When the Beaver offers you a fish, you take the fish!”A greedy land developer (Jeffrey Jones) is ruining the forest and The Beaver asks the good Doctor to intercede. Dr. Dolittle reluctantly does, recruiting his lawyer wife to assist in the battle. They come up with an idea. The forest has living in it a female Pacific Northwestern Bear, which is an endangered species. If they can find a mate for the bear, the other side will go elsewhere. The good news they have no problem finding a male. The bad news is that Archie a circus bear and outdoor survival skills are not his thing. He does do a great version of “Copacabana” though. He does not impress Ava, the girl bear. She is “seeing” somebody. He is a Kodiak bear. He might not be much for cuddling or remembering anniversaries but he can catch one hundred fish to Archie’s one. Finally Archie does what he has to do. He proves himself to Ava by going out on a limb for her, literally. He wins her heart but it is too late, the bad guys start the development. The animals form a union and have a strike. What ensues is one of the funnier sequences of the movie. It is very clever. One funny bit has a strike at Sea World where the Killer Whales just sit around, refusing to jump for the usual meal of fish. Somewhere in the middle of the vulgarity is a really sweet movie that reminds me of the better Disney live action comedies of the 60’s. The courtship of the bears could have been played for cheap laughs but at the end you’re rooting for Archie to win Ava’s heart. Attention is paid to his family life, especially Dr. Dolittle’s difficulty in relating to his oldest daughter. When father and daughter find out that they have more in common than just genes I actually got a little misty-eyed. Eddie Murphy actually fits the role very well of the good-natured doctor playing straight man to a bunch of standup comic animals. “Boomerang” in 1992 showed he’s a natural for romantic comedy. Maybe Hollywood will give him another shot at something a little more sophisticated after this. The laughs are hit and miss but there are some good lines and lots of animal slapstick. The cast is overall pretty good. Raven-Symone(Olivia on The Cosby Show)is good as the oldest daughter. Kristen Wilson and Kyla Pratt reprise their roles from the first movie as the wife and the youngest daughter respectively. The animal’s voices are supplied by Norm Macdonald, Lisa Kudrow, Michael Rapaport and Cedric the Entertainer, amongst others. Jeffrey Jones and Kevin Pollak strike just the right balance between buffoonery and evil. 2 and ½ reels out of 4. PG13. Opened Friday, June 22.
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©Copyright 2002 Brett S. Harrison |