“Dolittle” Podcast Movie Review

By Daniel Barnes on July 21, 2020

Dolittle (2020) – Dare Daniel Podcast Episode 68

“Teamwork makes the dream work!”

In this week’s episode, Daniel and Corky get their Barry-berries caught in the gears of the robotic Dolittle. This 2020 box office bomb stars dozens of insufferable CGI creatures and an even more insufferable Robert Downey, Jr. It’s a spectacularly ugly exercise in focus-groupthink that tries to please everyone, and thus inevitably pleases no one.

Elsewhere, Daniel and Corky discuss squirrel surgery, Styx lyrics, and Chekhov’s dragon.

NEW DARES

Blast from the Past (Darcey Self)

Xanadu (Andrew Reyes)

DOLITTLE FACTS AND FIGURES

Theatrical release date: Jan. 17, 2020

Domestic box office gross: $77 million (production budget: $175 million)

Critic scores: 14 on Rotten Tomatoes; 26 on Metacritic

Daniel’s craft beer: Moksa Brewing’s River Kolsch (5.6% ABV)

Corky’s craft beer: Berryessa Brewing’s Free Kittens Rice Lager (5.0% ABV)

This week’s darer: David Paul

Why did David Paul dare Daniel and Corky to watch Dolittle? “I know a lot of people still think of Robert Downey Jr. as nothing more than the son of Morton Downey Jr. But I’m here to tell you he’s breaking out of his father’s substantial shadow in Dolittle. Yours Respectfully, Jan Michael Vincent.”

IMDB synopsis: “A physician who can talk to animals embarks on an adventure to find a legendary island with a young apprentice and a crew of strange pets.”

This week’s referenced movies: Assassins; Forbidden Zone; Doctor Dolittle (1967); Dr. Dolittle (1998); Scarface (1983); Serendipity; Gigli; Outfoxed; Uncovered: The War on Iraq; Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price; Down to Earth (1947); Can’t Stop the Music; Megaforce; Bounce; Jurassic Park; The Call of the Wild (2020); Cats; Joker; Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory; Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; Powder; The Big Lebowski; The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012); Norbit; Mary Poppins (1964); Aquaman; Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker; Donnie Darko; Kramer vs. Kramer; Blockers; The Adventures of Baron Munchausen; Ultraviolet