Doctor Dolittle (2020). Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Michael Sheen, Antonio Banderas, Jim Broadbent, Jessie Buckley, Harry Collett, Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, John Cena, Kumail Nanjiani, Octavia Spencer, Tom Holland, Craig Richardson, Ralph Fiennes, Selena Gomez, Marion Cotillard, Kasia Smutniak, Carmel Laniado, Frances de la Tour, Jason Mantzoukas, Ralph Ineson, Joanna Page, Sonny Ashbourne Serkis, Oliver Chris, Clive Francis, Eliot Barnes-Worrell.

There are films that seem to attract so much negativity even before they have reached the cinema that the audience member cannot but feel the temptation to go with the flow, the gentle mob rule that decrees the loud voice must be heard dissenting in unison and woe betide the one person who might objectively see beyond the headlines and actually witness the worth of the film in question; for in mob rule, there is always an agenda which rankles the soul to which you must always question.

It could be, as in the case of Doctor Dolittle that the memory of a classic representation overshadows it, that in some quarters to remake a film whilst the older, seemingly more respected version starring Rex Harrison, Anthony Newley and Richard Attenborough, still plays out beautifully in the mind of the watcher.

It could also be that the agenda of discouragement has gathered pace in the world, in a time when art is being downsized in importance in human affairs by those who see only blind obedience to the narrative on offer as a solution but whichever way it is seen, there can surely be no argument that a film or any art deserves to be seen by the individual and not the baying of a mob that insists that a new angle cannot exist without betraying the old established ways.

In Stephen Gaghan’s 2020 adaption of the famous doctor who could converse with the animals, there is a world of wonder to be explored, admittedly the film does not capture the sheer majesty of the 1967 original that captivated cinema audiences at the time, but it has heart, it exudes warmth and conveys a message that is need of being understood in our own time more than ever, that of nature and the environment.

Whilst Stephen Gaghan’s version does not display the complexity of music to which made the ’67 version a firm family favourite, the depth of acting displayed by Anthony Newley and Rex Harrison in particular, Doctor Dolittle is an adventure in its own right, and regardless of what you may have already taken in from others, it stands up well because of its ability to know where it was going wrong, and to dispense with pride in pursuing a tone of pleasure rather than being condescending to the audience.

It is to the art itself that the film is framed to an extent that it one of durable enjoyment, a story that is in itself is actually performed with integrity and one that creates a sense of delight to which the family can enjoy.

Doctor Dolittle may not have the universal appeal to which the original film adaptation still experiences, but it is its own master, and one that brings out a sense of belief that humanity is better than its outwardly cynical appearance.

Ian D. Hall