“Dolittle” doesn’t do much, according to critics.…
The fantasy action film starring Robert Downey Jr. as an eccentric English veterinarian who can talk to animals is in theaters Friday, though many reviewers say it isn’t worth a watch, much less a mention to your favorite giraffe.
The film has a dismal 16% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. (For reference, the widely ridiculed “Cats” clawed out a 20% fresh rating on the review aggregator.)
From Downey’s unconvincing accent to the film’s incomprehensible plot, critics had a lot to say about why the film doesn’t work.
In his ★★ review, USA TODAY’s Brian Truitt praised the star’s performance, though he said the movie “simply squeaks by without any real nuance.”
“Downey imbues Dolittle with wily eccentricity and an abundance of smarts: Instead of his abilities being a superpower, the ways he talks with every animal species is more of a learned thing,” he wrote, “and Downey sells that intelligence. (It also helps that we watched him successfully play a genius playboy billionaire philanthropist for more than a decade.)”
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Other critics weren’t as forgiving.
NPR reviewer Scott Tobias said “Dolittle” is more “a crime scene in need of forensic analysis” than a film.
“Something happened here,” he writes. “Something terrible. Something inexplicable. Watching the film doesn’t tell the whole story, because it doesn’t behave like the usual errant vision, which might be chalked up to a poor conceit or some hiccups in execution. This one has been stabbed multiple times, and only a thorough behind-the-scenes examination could sort out whose fingerprints are on what hilt.”
Los Angeles Times critic Katie Holmes called the film “a cursed endeavor” from the start.
“Do little?” she wrote. “They could not have done less. The only appropriate adjective for this ‘Dolittle’ is ‘hasty.’ Everything feels slapdash and half-rendered; the plot proceeds in a fashion that could be described only as perfunctory.”
Slashfilm’s Hoai-Tran Bui said Downey’s “garbled accent” sounds like “a Welsh man was put through a meat grinder.”
“What a waste of a cast, too,” she added. “One of the most perplexing twists from the film is that (Antonio) Banderas, who is 5 years older than Downey Jr., is playing his father-in-law. It’s the equivalent of Russell Crowe calling Tom Cruise a young man in The Mummy.”
National Review writer Kyle Smith described Downey’s performance as like “watching your favorite bright young college graduate accept a job emptying bedpans.”
“Or worse,” he added. “In an especially excruciating scene, Dolittle, the Victorian vet who talks to animals, relieves a dragon of its misery by pulling large objects out of its rectum: thighbones, a suit of armor, bagpipes. The following scenes were a blur. All I could think about was when Dolittle would wash his hands, which turned out to be never. Exiting the theater, I headed straight for the Purel aisle of Walgreens.”
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Idobi critic Sherin Nicole was more complimentary, calling the adventure “fun at times” and the CGI “very pretty.”
“Is DOLITTLE silly?” she continued. “Yes, it’s probably meant to be. Is it family entertainment? Yep. Will audiences like it? I’m not sure. I’m still trying to understand why y’all liked fidget spinners so much.”
