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"DR. DOLITTLE 2"
(2001) (Eddie Murphy, voice of Steve Zahn) (PG)

Alcohol/
Drugs
Blood/Gore Disrespectful/
Bad Attitude
Frightening/
Tense Scenes
Guns/
Weapons
Mild Mild Heavy Minor Minor
Imitative
Behavior
Jump
Scenes
Music
(Scary/Tense)
Music
(Inappropriate)
Profanity
Minor None Minor None Mild
Sex/
Nudity
Smoking Tense Family
Scenes
Topics To
Talk About
Violence
Mild None Mild Moderate Minor


QUICK TAKE:
Comedy: Urged on by members of the local animal union, a doctor who can talk to all animals sets out to save their habitat from deforestation by reintroducing a circus bear into the woods so that he can mate with a lone female of an endangered species.
PLOT:
John Dolittle (EDDIE MURPHY) is a San Francisco-based doctor who not only treats humans, but also animals with which he can communicate, including Lucky, the dog (voice of NORM MACDONALD), the Drunk Monkey (voice of PHIL PROCTOR) and Pepito (voice of JACOB VARGAS), a pet chameleon who can't change color. This obviously leads to a busy appointment schedule, something that's put a strain on his relationship with his family, including Lisa (KRISTEN WILSON), his wife, and their daughters Maya (KYLA PRATT) and Charisse (RAVEN-SYMONÉ).

When he discovers that Charisse would rather spend her sixteen birthday with her boyfriend Eric (LIL' ZANE) than them, Dolittle decides it's time for a family vacation. That plan is derailed, however, when the doc receives several visits from Joey the Raccoon (voice of MICHAEL RAPAPORT) and the Possum (voice of ISAAC HAYES) who want him to meet the God Beaver (voice of RICHARD C. SARAFIAN), the head of the local animal union.

The Beaver is concerned because lumber tycoon Joseph Potter (JEFFREY JONES) and his ruthless lawyer Jack Riley (KEVIN POLLAK) have taken steps to level their forest and the animals believe that Dolittle is the only human who can save their homes. Realizing the only way to stop the developers is to find an endangered species in the path of the deforestation, Dolittle discovers that a lone Pacific Western bear, Ava (voice of LISA KUDROW), lives in the forest.

Yet, she needs a mate and offspring for his plan to work, so Dolittle enlists the aid of Archie (voice of STEVE ZAHN), a circus performer bear to become Ava's suitor. The only problem is, she already has a bear boyfriend, Sonny (voice of MIKE EPPS), and Archie doesn't exactly know his way around the forest.

Thus, with just 30 days and counting on a court ordered suspension of leveling the woods, Dolittle takes his family out into the forest where he hopes to train the reluctant and skeptical Archie about how to be a real bear, all while Potter and Riley do what they can to stop that from happening.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
If they enjoyed the first "Dolittle" film (with Eddie Murphy) or seem to be the kind who will enjoy watching talking animals, they probably will.
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG
For language and crude humor.
CAST AS ROLE MODELS:
  • EDDIE MURPHY plays a doctor who can speak with the animals and agrees to help them fight a lumber company that wants to level a forest. He thus tries to teach a bear how to live in the wild and in doing so, somewhat shortchanges his human family.
  • KRISTEN WILSON plays his wife who isn't thrilled with his latest endeavor and lack of attention paid to her.
  • KYLA PRATT plays their youngest daughter.
  • RAVEN-SYMONÉ plays her older, teenage sister who's upset with her father about breaking his promise of them going to Europe.
  • LIL' ZANE plays her boyfriend who comes to stay with them in the woods and must be watched by Dolittle and his animal friends so that he doesn't try anything romantic with Charisse.
  • JEFFREY JONES plays a lumber tycoon/developer who wants to level a forest and isn't happy with Dolittle's plan.
  • KEVIN POLLAK plays his ruthless lawyer who tries to derail Dolittle's plan of reintroducing Archie into the wild.
  • CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

    HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE


    Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
    Then read OUR TAKE of this film.


    (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).


    OUR WORD TO PARENTS:
    Here's a quick summary of the content found in this PG rated comedy. Profanity consists of several uses of words such as "hell" and "damn," while various colorful phrases are also uttered. Some non-explicit, sexually related comments are made referring to animals (such as a bear being in heat and related comments), while some sexually related jokes are made (such as the doc giving an old tortoise something that's presumably like Viagra), although some of that will obviously go over younger kids' heads.

    Various instances of crude humor are present - involving bear flatulence, bird excrement and other animals urinating - and some token villains have cartoon-like bad attitudes. Some brief, slapstick style material is present as are some equally brief tense family moments (a teenage daughter not being happy with her dad, etc.).

    Meanwhile, one scene may be a little suspenseful to some younger viewers, while some characters drink and a monkey is noted as being a drunk. If you're still concerned about the film's appropriateness for anyone in your home, we suggest that you more closely examine our detailed content listings for more specific examples of what's present.


    ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE
  • A little French monkey is an alcoholic and comments that teenagers (namely Charisse) will drive a man to drink. He claims what he's drinking is Gatorade, but Dolittle notes that it's wine.
  • Riley and another man have drinks.
  • The Raccoon tells the Monkey that the drinks are on him.
  • Dolittle has wine for himself and his wife, but we don't see either drink.
  • Potter drinks some liquor.
  • The Monkey pops open a bottle of champagne.
  • We see the Monkey at a blender (presumably mixing a drink) and he then falls over backwards.
  • BLOOD/GORE
  • We see/hear Lucky the dog urinating in the forest.
  • John tells Archie about hibernation, causing the bear to ask about going to the bathroom. John then explains that bears eat stuff that plug them up, causing Archie to ask about sleeping for six months "with a big cork in my butt" and later mentions the "butt plug."
  • Trying to impress a wolf he's interested in, Lucky goes around and urinates on various items to mark his territory. A male wolf then comes along, and urinates next to Lucky's head as he lies on the ground.
  • Archie belches and then suddenly says he has to go to the bathroom while John is in the small facility with him. Archie then sits on the toilet and we hear many farting sounds as John desperately tries to open the window for fresh air. Later, as John passes by, both Potter and Riley smell themselves to see if they're the source of a bad smell and a dog asks, "Was that me?"
  • Many birds target Potter and Riley for their droppings and we then see a "rainstorm" of such droppings hitting and/or landing around the two men.
  • We see many bee sting welts on Riley's face.
  • We see a small pool of animal urine on a piece of paper.
  • DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE
  • One's views of deforestation will have an effect on how they view the following characters, but Potter (the businessman) and Riley (his lawyer) are the token bad guys who want to flatten the forest and then try to do anything to derail John's efforts to reintroduce Archie into the wild.
  • Riley states that calling the wife is always a sign of weakness (referring to John calling up Lisa).
  • FRIGHTENING SCENES
  • Some younger viewers may find a scene where Archie goes out on a log hanging off a cliff (to get a beehive at the end) as somewhat tense as the log begins to shift with his weight and he seems like he might be in danger (he's okay in the end).
  • GUNS/WEAPONS
  • Tranquilizer gun: Used to shoot a dart into Archie.
  • IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR
  • Phrases: "Who the hell is...?" "Shut up," "Oh, jeez," "Screw up," "I don't talk to bear pimps" (what Ava says to John about trying to fix her up with Archie), "Hell, no," "Chicks" (women), "Sure as hell," "Nuts" (crazy), "Damn that rap music," "Idiot," "That's one bad mother," "Go suck a salmon," "Freaking," "Freak," "Cannolis" (testicles) and "Hell no, we won't go" (said several times as a protest chant).
  • JUMP SCENES
  • None.
  • MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)
  • A tiny bit of suspenseful music plays during the film.
  • MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)
  • None.
  • PROFANITY
  • At least 11 hells, 4 damns, 2 asses, 2 uses each of "God" and "Oh my God" and 1 use of "Holy Lord" as exclamations.
  • SEX/NUDITY
  • A comment is made about doing someone a favor by neutering someone else.
  • Dolittle asks two old tortoises about the last time they made any little baby turtles. They answer that it's been a long time and so Dolittle gives them some pills (presumably of the Viagra variety), causing the male to ask what they do. Dolittle knowingly nods and we then hear (after a passage of time) the male turtle telling the female that she looks fine and "I'm coming at you baby" as he approaches her from behind.
  • Dolittle gives his wife a present from France that he suggestively says both of them can enjoy (we never see it).
  • Dolittle shows Archie (the bear) various shots of female bears in the wild, causing Archie to ask if he has any action shots of them, adding, "You know what I'm talking about."
  • One bunny tells another that they should go and fool around.
  • After spotting Eva (the bear), Archie comments on how she moves and then adds that he'd love to see her wet.
  • Lucky states that he's going to die a virgin.
  • Eva tells Archie that her other "boyfriend" is mainly just interested about when she's in heat, and Archie responds to that and then offhandedly asks when that might be.
  • Eva tells Archie that she's ready, causing Archie to state that she's in heat.
  • The Monkey briefly sings part of a song that goes, "There's a place in France where the naked monkeys dance."
  • SMOKING
  • None.
  • TENSE FAMILY SCENES
  • Charisse has the typical teen alienation from her father and becomes progressively upset with him (about not going to Europe as he promised, and then having to spend days in the woods with her family).
  • Lisa is a little upset with John for ignoring her for the past several days (as he deals with training Archie).
  • TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT
  • That bears aren't as friendly as shown here and probably shouldn't be approached, particularly in the wild.
  • What pimps are - Ava tells Dolittle that she doesn't talk to bear pimps after John tries to fix her up with Archie.
  • What a French kiss is - The Monkey claims that's what Eric did to him when he stuck his head between Eric and Charisse as they were about to kiss.
  • What "in heat" means.
  • VIOLENCE
  • We don't see it, but an alligator bites Steve Irwin (the "Croc Hunter") and some bees sting Riley (we later see welts on his face).
  • Some slapstick material has Archie falling down some cellar steps (not seen, but heard); John accidentally dropping his wife to the floor while yelling at the animals to give them some peace; John poking Archie who then knocks him backwards with a swipe of his paw; and some unseen chickens pelt a farmer with their eggs.



  • Reviewed June 19, 2001 / Posted June 22, 2001

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