i cried during _babe_ .
i admit it .
the special effects , the story , the great dialogue were woven together so delicately and successfully that my mind lost track that this was a ” children’s film ” –so much so that , yes , i got a little overly sentimental .
such , my friend , is the power of cinema .
when word came out that they were using this newly developed f/x for a doctor dolittle update , in which eddie murphy plays the title character , and many great comic actors supply the voices , my anticipation rose to great expectations .
they can’t possibly drop the ball on this one .
can’t miss .
can’t possibly miss .
they missed .
what went wrong ?
after much thought , i supply three general rules .
( 1 ) don’t let a television actress-turned-comedy movie director near an urbanite script ( i . e . , penny marshall’s dreadful ” preacher’s wife ” ) .
betty thomas worked wonders with ” the brady bunch movie ” , but the same sitcom-airiness doesn’t quite work here .
it’s as if she lifted a generic sitcom , and iced it with light doses of modern r&b .
take away the black cast , take away the atrocious soundtrack , and you have the residue of some mid-80’s kirk cameron show .
( 2 ) the greater the cast , the less the individual cast-member has to do ( i . e . ,
” con air ” ) .
it is great to have the comic voices of jenna elfman , garry schandling , john leguizimo , ellen degeneres , and gilbert godfried in your lineup , but they have nothing to do but improvise their underdeveloped , stereotyped characters , one-line-at-a-time .
it’s even worse , because sometimes their voices are so unrecognizable that you don’t get the satisfaction of linking the voice to the comedian until the credits .
now there are three character actors who do get special treatment : albert brooks brings dignity to nearly every project he’s in , and the scenes as a depressed tiger do resonate a certain poignancy .
norm mcdonald fares nearly as well , as a stray dog who learns to bond with dolittle .
but there’s little humor here .
that rests on the shoulders of chris rock , sorely miscast and unfunny as the voice of their wise-ass guinea pig .
even the mouth is ill-synched .
( 3 ) don’t let the special effects technicians walk away with the script .
there’s a certain timing that’s mandatory in comedy .
to have this timing usurped by the brilliancy of computer generated mouths or lifelike creations of jim henson’s creature shop , is a travesty .
this is not to say that special effects filled comedies or muppet movies aren’t well-timed laughfests ; with the right director , they can be and have .
here , betty thomas is clearly over her head .
i wish i could commend the special effects , but they’re merely average .
count the number of times where the animal’s mouth is turned away from the camera , or too far to notice , or ill-synched .
this is less a ” babe ” and more of a ” look who’s barking ” clone .
you may be wondering , ‘how does eddie murphy fare ? ‘
well , he came back with the exceptional ” nutty professor ” , and i don’t doubt he can come back again .
here , he’s tied into a straight man and given little to do .
the exceptions are when he fears he’s going crazy : a far cry from his smarter-than-you’d expect routine that he’s more adept at .
it’s unfortunate that he is where richard pryor was ten years ago , making lame comedies without the same bite he had given in his early years .
after all this , what’s left ?
butt jokes .
a _lot_ of butt jokes .
i guess for kids that may be funny , but i was stone-faced .
if there’s a lesson the film may be telling us , is that animals have feelings too , and they care way too much for your butt .