Doctor Dolittle
(1998)
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Three features. In 'Doctor Dolittle', a remake of the 1967 Richard Fleischer film of the same name, an animal doctor whose patients bark, squeal, and meow finds that he can suddenly understand his patients, which upsets the practice. Eddie Murphy updates the role as a San Francisco doctor who as a boy was looked upon strangely by everyone when he claimed he could talk to animals. Now an adult, a near wreck stirs something in him and suddenly he can understand the animals again, whether he wants to or not. Also includes: 'Doctor Dolittle 2' and 'Doctor Dolittle 3'. |
Following the success of The Nutty Professor, Eddie Murphy completed his transformation from foul-mouthed, fast-talking comic to all-round family entertainer with this, the UK's second-highest grossing film in 1998 (after Titanic). Murphy plays a doctor whose life is turned upside down when his childhood gift — the ability to “talk with the animals” — returns. That's the cue for lots of juvenile gags from a host of guest voices (Garry Shandling, Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres), while the likes of Ossie Davis and Oliver Platt look on bemused. Betty Thomas directs proficiently, but Rex Harrison must be turning in his grave.