DOLITTLE – Rated PG – 1 hr. 41 mins. 

This Review is brought to you by Kathy Kaiser

DOLITTLE – Rated PG – 1 hr. 41 mins. 

DIRECTED BY:  Stephen Gaghan 

BASED ON THE NOVEL BY Hugh Lofting – The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle

SCREENPLAY BY Stephan Gaghan, Dan Gregor, Doug Mann and Thomas Shepherd

STARRING:  Robert Downey Jr., Antonio Banderas, Michael Sheen, Jim Broadbent, Jessie Buckley, Rami Malek, Harry Collett, Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, John Cena, Kumail Nanjiani, Octavia Spencer, Tom Holland, Craig Robinson, Ralph Fiennes, Selena Gomez

As we venture into the life of one Dr. John Dolittle (Robert Downey Jr.), his wife has been met with her untimely demise, and as he seeks seclusion in his grief, he finds that his English estate, filled with the animals he communicates with, is the perfect way to pass away his time…

But when Queen Victoria (Jessie Buckley) is stricken ill…it is up to Dr. Dolittle to figure out her ailment, and travel across the ocean with his trusty animals by his side, in search of the cure to save her majesty…

I give DOLITTLE a rating between MUST SEE ON THE BIG SCREEN and WAIT AND CATCH THIS FILM ON DVD:  If you have been following me, or my site for the past few years, you know that it’s killing me not to give this film a total “Must see on the Big Screen” review, as Robert Downey Jr is one of my most favorite actors of all time.  But even though I adore both him, and the fabulous cast that was tapped to take on this film along with him, Dolittle just doesn’t quite reach the pinnacle of what I was hoping to see, with this beloved remake of a story.  Downey is good as Dolittle, he’s just not as fabulous as many of the other characters he has created over the years – including Charlie Chaplin, Sherlock Holmes, or even his most well-known Marvel character, Iron Man.  And although his casting team did manage to surround him with some incredible actors to voice his beloved animals too ~ including Rami Malek, Emma Thompson, Octavia Spencer, Tom Holland – the list goes on and on – even their funny performances throughout, couldn’t secure a flawless remake of the beloved Dr. Dolittle character this time around.  Sadly too, is the fact that this Dolittle film, made for a new generation of children to become as endeared to this character as I myself did as a small child, watching Rex Harrison in this timeless role, or for the decades of children that have enjoyed Eddie Murphy’s hilarious take on “the man who can talk to the animals”, might have ultimately missed its mark.  Although, now that I have shared with you my own “not quite as perfect as it could have been” thoughts on this film, I feel that it’s only fair for me to share with you too, my 19 year old daughter’s thoughts, as she came home last evening ~ Singing its accolades~ informing me that the rating on Rotten Tomatoes is bogus, and that it must be just from the critics that are panning this film, and they  “have it all wrong”…as she loved every minute of it this film, from the quirky way that Downey Jr portrays Dr. Dolittle, to the hilarious and endearing animals throughout, thus alerting me to the fact that maybe the children this movie was created for, might enjoy it a lot more, than all of the Adult critics, who are sharing their take with you on this film…including me!