Robert Downey Jr. gave one of his worst performances in this recent fantasy film
Robert Downey Jr. became a big star thanks to his role as Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He will return to the MCU as Doctor Doom, but outside of the MCU he played Downey Jr. Also in many other movies, sometimes good, sometimes bad. However, one of his worst performances was in the fantasy film Dolittle.
dolittle was directed by Stephen Gaghan, from a screenplay written by Gaghan, Dan Gregor and Doug Mand. The film was released in 2020 and is based on the character of Doctor Dolittle, created by Hugh Lofting, and is mainly inspired by Lofting’s second book. The Travels of Doctor Dolittle (1922), which was the original title of the film.
Cast
Downey Jr. plays the title character, alongside Antonio Banderas, Michael Sheen, Jim Broadbent, Jessie Buckley, Harry Collett and Kasia Smutniak in live-action roles, while Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, John Cena, Kumail Nanjiani, Octavia Spencer, Tom Holland, Craig Robinson, Ralph Fiennes, Selena Gomez and Marion Cotillard provide the voices of various creatures.
This is the third film adaptation of the character, after the musical film doctor dolittle from 1967 starring Rex Harrison and the Dr. DolittleFilm series from 1998-2009, starring Eddie Murphy and later Kyla Pratt as his daughter.
History
dolittle follows Dr. John Dolittle (Downey Jr.), who has isolated himself from the world after the death of his wife. He lives in solitude behind the high walls of his opulent country house in 19th century England. His only company is a series of exotic animals with which he speaks daily.
But when young Queen Victoria (Buckley) falls seriously ill, the quirky doctor must embark on an epic adventure with his furry friends on a mythical island to find a healing tree that contains the only medicine that can help the queen.New shots
dolittle was originally announced under the name The Journey of Doctor Dolittle from director Gaghan and starring Downey Jr. in the title role, but the film underwent major reshoots directed by Jonathan Liebesman and Chris McKay after initial test screenings yielded disappointing results. In the end it was simply released dolittle.
In the movie, Downey Jr. delivers. a performance so big and broad that it makes even Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow look like an introvert. Downey Jr. speaks with such a thick accent that it is sometimes difficult to understand what he is saying. If this is the version that people deemed good enough to release, it’s hard to imagine what the previous version was like before the reshoots were made.
Failure
The film received generally negative reviews and grossed $251.5 million worldwide, making it a failure with an estimated loss of $50 to $100 million. dolittle It was nominated for six Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture, Worst Director for Gaghan, and Worst Actor for Downey Jr., and won for Worst Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel.
It has rotten tomatoes dolittle therefore a low score of 15%. The critical consensus on the website reads: “Dolittle may be enough to entertain very young viewers, but they deserve better than this standard adapted story with a confusing plot and mild humor.”
To look at?
Want dolittle Do you want to see it? You can rent and buy the movie at Pathe Thuis in main video.