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Robert Downey Jr.

Movie Review: Dolittle (2020) – 3 Stars

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dvd cover: Dolittle (2020)There was once a doctor who had an unreal ability. This doctor could talk to animals and his name was Dolittle. The Queen of England was so appreciative of his work that she gave him land that he used for his business. For a time, his life was everything he hoped. He had his animals and his wife, Lily, and the adventures that they shared. Then Lily left to go on an adventure that came to an unfortunate end. Dolittle then shut down his life and business until a young boy, Stebbins, came with a patient and a young girl arrived with a request from the queen. After tending to the patient, Dr. Dolittle then had an audience with the Queen. It seems Dr. Dolittle’s adventures were not over since the Queen was dying and he knew of only one thing that could cure her. So, with his animals and his young apprentice they went to search the globe for her majesty’s only hope.

I think this is a really good movie for kids. As an adult I could see how it could be very entertaining for a kid but I’m going to say it was not my cup of tea. Having said that I doubt that I was exactly in their targeted demographic. Dolittle and Stebbins were both passionate about caring for and learning about all sorts of animals. The movie itself was not bad in any way shape or form but the thing to remember is if you are older than about ten years of age skip the movie or save it only for the kids.

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Emma Thompson, and Tom Holland
Directed By: Stephen Gaghan

Review by Anne B.

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Movie Review: U.S. Marshals (1998) – 3 Stars

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This film opens up with a figure in a trench coat shooting at two other figures. Later, we see truck driver Mark Warren (Wesley Snipes) in an accident and while saving him, a gun is found under his seat. After finger printing, it is found that he is none other than federal fugitive Mark Roberts who is wanted for a double homicide.

Mark is then placed on a prisoner transport aircraft with U.S. Deputy Marshal Samuel Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones). During the flight a Chinese prisoner uses an improvised weapon to attack Roberts/Warren but he misses and blows out a window in the plane, thus depressurizing it. The plane wrecks in the Ohio river in Southern Illinois. While Gerard tries to save the surviving passengers on the plane, Warren escapes.

Later we find everyone in New York City. Roberts is trying to figure out who framed him for being a “mole”. Turns out that he is a former C.I.A. operative that supposedly went “rogue” during a botched deal. Gerard and the others have found evidence that is pointing to his innocence and that he had acted in self-defense during the shootings. Action and drama continue to heat up throughout the movie as the Chinese, C.I.A., and the “mole,” who set him up, are all after him.

CRITIQUE:

Although not directly a sequel per se to The Fugitive, this was a different story with the same main characters, the U.S. Marshals that teamed up with Gerard in The Fugitive. I enjoyed this movie but it wasn’t as easy for me to follow and become as involved with the character Roberts as I had with (Harrison Ford) Dr. Richard Kimble in the first movie. First of all, Snipes’ character, though innocent, was a trained killer and was smoother than Harrison Ford’s character at running/escaping. This had additional drama to the first movie. Dr. Kimble, though smart, seemed just more panicking while trying to survive. I just found myself getting behind Ford’s character. Being in the moment, accused of his wife’s death also added more of an emotional element, I felt. I enjoyed the storyline better. Tommy Lee Jones played his character well but just not as intense as he was in the first movie. Snipes was good but I just saw him more as an action figure that was used to being pursued. Also, the plane transport scene reminded me so much of the bus scene in the first movie that it didn’t seem very “original.”

Directed by Stuart Baird
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Wesley Snipes, Robert Downey Jr.

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