In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.

[Q]: dr dolittle ( 20th century fox ) running time : 1 hour 25 minutes starring eddie murphy directed by betty thomas riding high on the success of the nutty professor ( 1996 ) , murphy returns in this abysmal comedy .
he plays doctor john dolittle , who as a child had the ability to understand animals .
however , after being ' exorcised ' he loses this ability , and we fast forward to see dolittle in a crummy job surrounding by crummy people ( most notably dr mark weller , played by oliver platt . ) however , with a bonk on the head his ability to understand animals returns , and ' comedy ' is ready and waiting to happen .
except comedy never does happen .
doctor dolittle , even with the excellent premise , rarely manages to raise a laugh .
poor old murphy looks bored stiff throughout the whole movie , and his performance suffers .
the manic murphy we saw in the 80 's is gone , his more mature ( and more boring ) twin appears to be getting all the work in the 90 's .
the voices of the animals , which include albert brooks , chris rock ( the ' new ' eddie murphy ) and norm mcdonald as ' lucky ' the dog are marginally better , and at least they put enthusiasm in the movie .
sadly , most of their lines are pretty dumb .
and they 're not ' funny ' dumb , like dumb & dumber ( 1994 ) , but just boring dumb .
the film even succumbs to fart jokes halfway through , in a desperate attempt to raise some laughs .
there are a few good jokes in the script , but they are few and far between .
if i had to choose a favourite performance , it would probably be albert brooks tiger , who has a certain charm about him .
sadly , he 's barely in the movie , and rock 's really annoying hamster is given far too much screen time .
joke wise
, we are thankfully , spared the mocking and insulting type of jokes that featured heavily in the nutty professor .
the director , betty thomas , has , well , done better films .
she bought us private parts ( 1997 ) and the brady bunch movie ( 1995 ) which were , sadly , much better than this .
the scenes lack any charm
, she just gets the job done .
the animals themselves , are reasonable realistic , although most of them are obviously puppets .
there 's an impressive looking tiger , however , and the lip sync is pretty good .
you 'd have no problem guessing that most of the close up 's are puppets , however , with their jilted movement .
i was hoping jim hensons workshop , who created the furry friends , would have done a better job .
doctor dolittle , in the end , is a disappointment for everyone involved .
murphy has done much better movies
( i .
e trading places )
the director has seen better days , and even the creatures are n't that good .
the target audience , aged between 7 - 13 , who are undemanding , will probably like it however , thanks to it 's dumbed down humour .
everyone else , however , should give doctor dolittle a miss .
[A]: N


[Q]: gothic murder - mystery yarns are not a new conceit .
in fact , they 've been around in books and on film for many , many years .
without the proper handling , they come off as old - fashioned , bland , and outdated .
"
the gift , " directed by sam raimi , is a tried - and - true effort that surprises very little , and includes everything from a wide array of suspects and red herrings , to mansions in the deep south with moss trees out front , to the eventual discovery of a waterlogged corpse found in a nearby pond .
it 's fairly obvious who the killer is ;
in fact , i predicted who it would be before the movie began and was correct in my preliminary suspicions .
the film ultimately should n't work , but it does , thanks to a sparkling cast that fills each character with so many memorable nuances , the most fun to be had is in simply watching the people interact with each other
.
annie wilson ( cate blanchett ) is a recently widowed mother of three sons who makes her living giving psychic readings to the residents of her backwater southern hometown .
some of her mainstay clients include valerie barksdale ( hilary swank ) , who is severely abused by her husband donnie ( keanu reeves ) , and buddy cole ( giovanni ribisi ) , an unstable mechanic who is confused by the nightmares he 's been having about a mysterious blue diamond that is somehow linked to his father .
for annie , she does not give the readings merely for money , but uses it as a way of seeking solace in finding the good in everyone 's future .
her late grandmother ( rosemary harris ) told her as a child that it was a gift she was given , and she should always remember that .
when annie 's eldest son is involved in a fight at school , she meets the nice - guy school principal , wayne collins ( greg kinnear ) , whom she finds herself attracted to .
but wayne is engaged to the wealthy jessica king ( katie holmes ) , whom annie immediately gets a negative vibe about .
at a party with her best friend linda ( kim dickens ) , annie stumbles upon jessica in a compromising position with lawyer david duncan ( gary cole ) .
soon after , jessica has disappeared , leaving everyone in a frenzy over what could have possibly happened to her , and annie starts to have nightmares and apparitions linking jessica with the vicious redneck donnie barksdale , and the pond behind his home .
"
the gift " may be cliched on a sheer storytelling level , but the performances and tight direction from raimi ( who has redeemed himself for his embarrassing last film , 1999 's " for love of the game " ) lift the picture up several notches .
slowly enveloping the viewer into the many intriguing characters and their individual plights , the disappearance of jessica at the 30-minute mark divulges the movie 's true intentions and transforms the proceedings into a taut , at times frightening , horror - mystery .
at the center of the film is the exceptional cate blanchett ( 1999 's " the talented mr .
ripley " ) , who turns annie wilson from what could have been little more than a run - of - the - mill protagonist into a very exact , down - to - earth , realistic person with valid troubles and a caring attitude towards those around her .
blanchett takes the unextraordinary material and runs with it , giving the entire film a truly classy aura that it otherwise might not have had .
we follow her at every turn because she is so mesmerizing , both as a character and an actress .
blanchett is n't the only bright performer , as she is ably supported by one of the best casts of the year .
in her first role following her oscar win for 1999 's " boys do n't cry , " hilary swank is excellent as the confused valerie , who seeks guidance from annie , but is too scared to take her biggest advice of all : to leave the grossly abusive donnie .
as donnie , keanu reeves ( 2000 's " the watcher " ) makes an utterly convincing backwoods meanie , so much so that it is difficult to believe he is an actor at all
.
for the often - criticized reeves , whose acting abilities have never been the best , this is the biggest compliment he could possibly get , and it is also one of the better performances he has given .
giovanni ribisi ( 2000 's " the boiler room " ) is heartbreaking as a mentally slow young man who sees annie as his only friend , and wants her to do nothing but help him understand why he is being plagued by bad dreams about his dad .
in the small , but pivotal role of the sleazy jessica king , katie holmes ( 2000 's " wonder boys " ) has turned in yet another stunning supporting turn .
her promiscuous role of jessica is one she has never played before , and
she is radiant in her few scenes .
finally , kim dickens ( 2000 's " hollow man " ) makes her usual strong impression as annie 's spicy best friend , linda .
the other notable aspect of " the gift " is its moody atmosphere that lays such a thickly foreboding air over every scene it 's almost suffocating .
thanks to cleverly construed editing by arthur coburn and bob murawski , and the successful use of different eerie sounds effects and a very good music score by christopher young , the movie not only achieves a scary undercurrent , but one that is filled with dread . helped along by a strong screenplay by billy bob thornton and tom epperson , which makes the most of its setting and delightful cast , " the gift " is
that rarest of thrillers that actually thrills , and offers up a fair share of chills , too .
it may not be groundbreakingly original , but it sure is an entertaining ride for the duration of its running time .
[A]: P


[Q]: bruce willis stars as malcolm , an award winning child psychologist who discovers one night that one of his former patients is still suffering from inner demons .
the now grown man breaks into his apartment while he and his wife ( olivia williams from rushmore ) are celebrating his award , shoots malcolm in the stomach , then takes his own life .
almost nine months later , malcolm discovers cole ( haley joel osment , in a brilliant performance ) ,
another young man afflicted with the same turmoil as his former patient .
he takes on the child 's case in the hope of redeeming himself for botching up the previous one , alienating his wife in the process .
he soon discovers that they boy can see and speak to the dead , and his life becomes forever turned upside down .
although the first hour is very slow , the sixth sense turns out to be a very powerful and moving film .
i was expecting this film to be mercury rising 2 , but was astonished to discover an extremely well plotted out little thriller with an outstandingly satisfying ending .
you 'll find yourself mentally retracing your steps through the film to see if you actually saw what you think you did once the credits roll .
i must give m . night shyamalan a lot of credit for a brilliantly written screenplay .
the cast should also be given a lot of credit for making the movie as solid as it is .
a lesser cast could have made this film a joke .
bruce willis portrays his character perfectly , balancing his need to help cole and his agony over his strained relationship with his wife skillfully .
haley joel osment shines as nine year old cole , showing patience in his character that few young actors these days can pull off .
toni collette , looking markedly different from her pathetic character in muriel 's wedding , gives a strong performance as cole 's mother , who is trying to cope with both her son 's " illness " and the passing of her mother .
finally , olivia williams deftly portrays a woman having to struggle with a husband who 's not around and flirtations with a co - worker that could lead to a begrudgingly accepted end .
it 's a shame that they show cole 's abilities in the trailer , because the movie takes close to forty minutes to get around to doing the same , so we already know what 's going on before most of the rest of the cast does .
in retrospect though , the forty minute set - up is essential to enjoying the end of the film , so i have fewer complaints now
then i did while i was watching the film .
i 'm glad that the run of teen - styled horror films has passed and filmmakers are starting to make more adult fare .
films like this ,
the similarly themed stir of echoes , and countless others to be released later in the year should make for a pretty entertaining close to 1999 .
[ pg-13 ]
[A]:
P