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 ca n't possibly drop the ball on this one .
ca n't miss .
ca n't possibly miss .
they missed .
what went wrong ?
after much thought , i supply three general rules .
( 1 ) do n'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 does n'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 do n'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 ) do n'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 are n'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 do n'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 .
it 's even worse a travesty does n't quite work here they 're merely average sorely miscast and unfunny there 's little humor here i was stone - faced they missed . what went wrong ?