Tag: Norm MacDonald

Dr. Dolittle 2

MPAA Rated – PG
It’s 1:28 Long
A Review by:
– The Dude on the Right

Dr. Dolittle 2
Movie Stats & Links
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Krisen Wilson, Kevin Pollak, Lisa Kudrow, Norm Macdonald, Steve Zahn
MPAA Rated: PG
Released By: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: 2001
Kiddie Movie: Some of the humor is toilet humor so figure on that.
Date Movie: It’s harmless – bring her along.
Gratuitous Sex: Nah.
Gratuitous Violence: Nah.
Action: Nah.
Laughs: Some good laughs here and there.
Memorable Scene: Archie taking a dump in the bathroom and the scene with the crocodile and “The Crocodile Hunter.”
Memorable Quote: Nah.
Directed By: Steve Carr

You know how sometimes you can get too much of a good thing? Well, I enjoy toilet style humor as much as the next person, think farts are funny, and can find burps humorous, but lately it seems every movie has added those elements and sadly I’m not finding flatulence as funny any more. The latest movie to think it needs toilet humor is “Dr. Dolittle 2.”

“Dr. Dolittle 2” brings Eddie Murphy back as the good doctor. Now that his secret of talking to the animals is out, well, his practice is thriving, although the family unit could be doing better. But there’s a problem – namely the mean, nasty logging company is crouching in on the mob boss’ territory, and by mob boss I’m talking about a beaver who controls the animals in the woods. In a sit-down with our doctor, well, Mr. Beaver convinces Dr. Dolittle that he has to save their land, and with the help of his wife, Lisa (Kristen Wilson), well, it seems the only hope is to get the endangered female bear, Eva (voiced by Lisa Kudrow) to make baby bears. Unfortunately the only male bear left, Archie (voiced by Steve Zahn) has been trained as a circus bear and Eva wants nothing to do with the wimp. So it’s up to Doctor D to turn Archie back into a manly bear while the nasty logging company has a plan of their own to get Archie back into captivity. And, oh yea, Doctor D has to deal with his growing daughter, Charisse (Raven-Symone) who brings along her boyfriend, Eric (Lil’ Zane), for their vacation/Archie training trip to the woods.

Well I’m not going to give away the ending although I’m sure you can figure it out, but I’ll just add a few things. First, like the first Dr. Dolittle, well, the jokes are what you might expect from talking animals. You get Norm Macdonald back voicing the family dog, you get bathroom humor from Archie, you get a chameleon who can’t change colors, you get the drunken monkey, and you get the animals as, hmm, I guess they’d be called “made” animals in their little mafia world. You also get a scary vision of the world if animals could talk to each other when they all go on strike. But, in the end, you get a cute movie that gets a little preachy about the whole logging thing, but you’ll chuckle here and there and the kids will probably find Archie lovable.

You know what you are asking for by going to see “Dr. Dolittle 2” and you get just that, but I just wish movies could get a little more inventive instead of just relying on farts and doody to make me laugh. It’s gonna be 3 stars out of 5 for “Dr. Dolittle 2.”

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Doctor Dolittle

MPAA Rated – PG
It’s 1:25 Long
A Review by:
– Stu Gotz

Doctor Dolittle
Movie Stats & Links
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Ossie Davis, Oliver Platt, Kristen Wilson, and animal voices by Norm MacDonald, Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Chris Rock, and more.
MPAA Rated: PG
Released By: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: 1998
Kiddie Movie: Too much bathroom humor for the really little one’s.
Date Movie: I took one.
Gratuitous Sex: No. But a lot of jokes around the topic.
Gratuitous Violence: No.
Action: No.
Laughs: I thought so.
Memorable Scene: Norm MacDonald as a dog loosing a thermometer up his butt.
Memorable Quote: Anything that Chris Rock said while playing the part of a Guinea Pig, but “Why do they call me a Guinea Pig? I ain’t Italian, and I ain’t pork” comes to mind.
Directed By: Betty Thomas

If you have fond memories of the classic musical, “Dr. Dolittle,” then you may not like 20th Century Fox’s updated version, in fact I dare say you’ll hate it. In his latest incarnation, Doctor Dolittle (Eddie Murphy) is an uptight, overworked, big city physician about to sell out his practice to an HMO for big bucks. On a particularly hectic day Dr. D. whacks a stray dog and bumps his head on the steering wheel. This awakens a long lost gift of his by which he is able to communicate with animals, a talent which had been dormant in him since childhood. So here is the good Doctor thinking he’s crazy, and pretty soon everyone else does too. But, not to worry, Dr. D. isn’t destined to spend his life in the loony bin. Nope, in the end Dr. D. comes to terms with his gift and people respect him for it. Aww… How nice. How predictable. How funny.

OK… So the movie lacks substance (it does make a poor point about selling out) but it did make me laugh. Granted I saw all the jokes coming a mile away, but they were funny none the less. I think that had to do with the writing and casting. You know how the movie “Clerks” was terribly acted but you didn’t care because the writing was so good? Well, this movie is no “Clerks” and it’s not as smartly written, but the point is that the dialogue in “Doctor Dolittle,” along with the situations and acting, all lead to funny outcomes. Am I making any sense? Anyway, I thought that Albert Brooks was a perfect suicidal tiger, Norm MacDonald was a great street mutt with an attitude, I’ll never be able to look at a Guinea Pig again and not think of Chris Rock, and oh so many more actors lent their voices to make this a very funny movie.

A lot of the reviews that I read had the critics pretty much trashing Eddie Murphy’s new comedy, “Doctor Dolittle.” Most of the big-town C’s bitched that the movie was predictable, used too much toilet humor, and went for the easy jokes. Well… That’s all true. But none the less I laughed my ass off through the whole movie. Hey, isn’t the point of a comedy to make you laugh? So I say to all the big paper critics that not all movies are art and sometimes a predictable joke delivered at the right time by the right person is just what a movie audience needs. I didn’t mind laying out eight bucks to see this movie, but this movie is definitely better at matinee prices. All that being said I give “Doctor Dolittle” 3 of 5 stars. I’m Stu Gotz and “Doctor Dolittle” is a good film. ‘Nuff Said!