Dr. Dolittle: Critic Reviews

The movie will not harm anyone, and in the audience I saw it with, lots of parents and kids seemed to be laughing together.

Slim on story and rife with scatological jokes, the film may strike a chord with pre-teens but misses for an older crowd despite some nifty effects and broad humor.

The old actor's rule -- never work with animals or kids -- has never seemed more apt. The animals steal the scene from Murphy every time, and he gives it up gladly.

A cloying, humorless motion picture whose only assets are the work of Jim Henson's Creature Shop and a couple of good one-liners by a pair of rodents.

This gimmicky animal tale is crude but funny.

Even star Eddie Murphy seems bored.

It's quite funny for the first thirty minutes, but after that it's kind of like beating a dead horse. A dead talking horse.

Murphy's likeable, the script's laden with a gaggle of one-liners, and there's even a vague message nestling beneath the zoological chaos.

Dr. Dolittle is destined to be a money maker, since kids will see the talking animals and be instantly taken in, but it is the film's utter lack of anything wholesome that causes its downfall.

One of the things about Dr. Dolittle that helps raise it above kiddy-fare and give the accompanying adults a bit of amusing entertainment are the not-so-kid-targeted jokes.

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Provides enough entertainment for the audience to enjoy the film despite [its] flaws.

Dr. Dolittle doesn't cut it as a family film or as a comedy farce. It's too vulgar to be the former and too inconsistent to be the latter. But consider this movie to be a test -- how many times can you laugh at one joke?

Eddie Murphy is one of those actors who is almost always funny. Although this is not one of his best movies, he is thoroughly enjoyable here, with the other actors mainly staying out of the way of his bits.

Director Betty Thomas recruited a host of stand-up comedians to provide the voices for the animals, and it's a gimmick that works astonishingly well. Talking animals have never sounded so witty.

Murphy does little more than react to stupid pet tricks.

This movie is not fair to either man or beast. It makes all creatures seem annoying, charmless, noisy, witless and unfunny--unless you are fond of toilet and arse jokes.

Os roteiristas parecem pensar que o simples fato de estarmos vendo um cachorro resmungando e engracado, nao importando o que ele fale. O problema e que importa, sim - e muito.

The moral of Dr. Dolittle is follow your bliss no matter what anyone else thinks.

Why are creatures commenting here on copulation and what are anal thermometers doing being swallowed up by canines' rears in a kids' picture?

Murphy himself is rather dull in the straight man role, and the jokes are pretty coarse for a family film. But it's certainly better than the lacklustre sequel, which finds Eddie playing second fiddle to a performing bear.

Takes a children's story and makes it witty and slick enough for an adult audience, while also infusing obvious lessons for the younger generation about acceptance and tolerance for those who are different.