Loving animals and animal movies as I do, you might think I would be immediately smitten with a movie about a man who can talk to animals and who treasures them above people.  But I have always felt ambivalent about the Dr. Dolittle character and his menagerie.  I haven’t seen the 1967 original (an Oscar Best Picture nominee!) since the ’70s, but remember not liking it (or its three hour length), and I have never bothered with the two Eddie Murphy comedies.  This new version uneasily combines live action with computer graphics, drama with sentiment, peril with comedy and odd accents with goofy sound effects.  Even after a month of reshoots, it’s still kind of a mess.

Stephen Gaghan’s film casts Robert Downey, Jr. as Dr. John Dolittle, a kindly veterinarian who gives up on life after losing his adventuresome wife.  Only his interactions with the animals he cares for keep him going at all.  Then comes word that the Queen of England is ill, and he must aid her, or lose his property and all the animals.  So Dolittle goes on a wild adventure, spanning the globe, to find the cure to the ailment from which the Queen suffers, aided by many of his furry and feathery friends, and a young helper, Stubbins (Harry Collett).  What he doesn’t know (at first) is that there are those in the Royal household who do not want him to succeed.

As clever as some of the story is — much of the Dolittle mansion seems to come from the imagination of whoever designed Pee Wee’s Big Adventure — this remains a childish story with little to connect it to reality.  Some of its themes are adult, but everything panders to the level of a child.  Children might then appreciate this fantasy, but I did not.  Kudos to Downey Jr. for trying something different, but I fail to see the magic that lured him to this project.  ☆ ☆.  2 March 2021.