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The concept is sound: George C. Scott is the legendary heist man whobreaks prison (in a 40-ton earthmover, no less, which makes for an interestingchase scene) to take charge of a haphazard job. Taking the term "bank robbery"literally, he decides to make off with the entire bank! Now he just has to hideit from a statewide dragnet (led by rotund redneck icon Clifton James) and keephis ragged gang in line while a volatile safecracker blows up everything exceptthe safe. Adapted from the Donald Westlake novel (from his Dortmunder series)and directed at a shrill pitch by dance legend Gower Champion, Bank Shotis an awkward but amiable misfire of a comic caper. Scott seems ill at ease, asif wondering how he ever wound up here, but he maintains a straight face whileall around him furiously mug for laughs. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Very Funny
Don't let the "Professional Reviewer's" comments dissuade you, this is a classic! If you like a light hearted comedy, you'll like this. ... Read more

Reviews (82)

The movie was good, it's not what people expect from Murphy.
I really liked this movie. It was funny and yet different considering what people usually expect from Eddie Murphy. He was not rude or used a lot of bad language. It shows that he is a very versatile actor. He can do good roles an roles where he hast to be the crudest person on earth. Anyway, I thought that having the animals really talking and their lips were in sinck with thier voices was a job well-done. Some of the actors that you think would never be good as a voice were pretty funny. John Legazamo was good as one of the rats. The drinking monkey was also hilarious. Well, I can say nothing but good for this movie.

vastly superior to the sequel, IMHO
Like a lot of people who believe themselves to be worldly, I put my little barriers up when I encounter a film like "Dr. Dolittle". When you think of yourself as a sophisticate, it's hard to reach the child within. You hope the kid left long ago.

The truth is that few people grow up entirely. Halfway through this movie, I threw in the towel and decided to admit I was enjoying this adolescent gem. It's infectious.

Eddie Murphy's Dr. Dolittle is not recognizable as the character in the Hugh Loftis book. He's been totally updated. The only element left from the novel is Dolittle's ability to talk to animals. He understands them. They converse. Thankfully they do not sing, as they did in the dreadful Rex Harrison musical comedy thirty years ago. That film lost a fortune for Fox Studio. At this late date, Mr. Murphy and friends seem to have recovered its money.

It may seem like a gift to be able to communicate with guinea pigs, owls, dogs, pigs, pigeons and other creatures. This gift could be a one-way ticket to the funny farm, which is the problem Dolittle faces.

One of the best things about "Dr. Dolittle" is that it's short. The producers were wise enough to get in and out before the audience realized this was basically a one joke, one special effect story.

Murphy seems to have undergone a personal transformation in the last few years. Now he is completely at ease and in control in gentle comedies like this and "The Nutty Professor", just as he was in the sexy and crime-driven vehicles that made him a movie star in the 1980s.

It was bathroom humor that earned this picture a PG-13 rating. It may have deserved it, but kids seem to learn this stuff younger these days. Maybe they are just more open than my generation was. This touch of crudeness helps "Dr. Dolittle" to work. Full of smart remarks, these animals are survivors. They are also endearing. They assure that the movie never becomes sickeningly sweet. Besides, nobody expects Eddie Murphy to give up his bad boy image completely.

One element I found interesting is that, despite all the advances in digital special effects, when you see a lot of animals talking on screen, it doesn't look any more real than it did in the days of Francis the Talking Mule. It just cost ten times as much to create the effect.

Laugh out loud comedy.
Dr. John Dolittle (Eddie Murphy) has the so called "perfect life", a beautiful wife, two loving daughters and a career that could not be better. All that changes one night when he nearly hits a dog with his car. As he is leaving, the dog calls him a bonehead then runs off. From that day on his childhood ability to communicate with animals is back. Soon, animals are showing up at his home to get help. His colleagues suspect he's going crazy and many decisions still have to be made regarding the sale of the clinic. Just as everything is about to fall apart, a circus tiger falls seriously ill and it's John's turn to prove to everyone that he's not crazy.

No Repeats
This is a movie I bought first, primarily for the kids because of the reviews. No one ever asked to watch it a second time. I say this because one of my kids was watching the Lion King last night, for the umpteenth time. So yes, I agree that eddie murphy impressed me again with his talent... but it just didn't grab my kids, 3 boys and 2 girls. I had to give it a good rating of 3 rather than a 2 to encourage the making of good movies.

Where's Richard Pryor when we need him?
eddie murphy is a comical guy, but is he really the right guy to play in something as stupid as this? Of course, who is the right guy for it? One of the questions i can't stand to think about in this movie, is how Dolittle hears the animals speak, but their lips move and nobody notices. Can't they connect the dots? Obviously not. And obviously, the filmmakers couldn't either. ... Read more

Reviews (82)

The movie was good, it's not what people expect from Murphy.
I really liked this movie. It was funny and yet different considering what people usually expect from Eddie Murphy. He was not rude or used a lot of bad language. It shows that he is a very versatile actor. He can do good roles an roles where he hast to be the crudest person on earth. Anyway, I thought that having the animals really talking and their lips were in sinck with thier voices was a job well-done. Some of the actors that you think would never be good as a voice were pretty funny. John Legazamo was good as one of the rats. The drinking monkey was also hilarious. Well, I can say nothing but good for this movie.

vastly superior to the sequel, IMHO
Like a lot of people who believe themselves to be worldly, I put my little barriers up when I encounter a film like "Dr. Dolittle". When you think of yourself as a sophisticate, it's hard to reach the child within. You hope the kid left long ago.

The truth is that few people grow up entirely. Halfway through this movie, I threw in the towel and decided to admit I was enjoying this adolescent gem. It's infectious.

Eddie Murphy's Dr. Dolittle is not recognizable as the character in the Hugh Loftis book. He's been totally updated. The only element left from the novel is Dolittle's ability to talk to animals. He understands them. They converse. Thankfully they do not sing, as they did in the dreadful Rex Harrison musical comedy thirty years ago. That film lost a fortune for Fox Studio. At this late date, Mr. Murphy and friends seem to have recovered its money.

It may seem like a gift to be able to communicate with guinea pigs, owls, dogs, pigs, pigeons and other creatures. This gift could be a one-way ticket to the funny farm, which is the problem Dolittle faces.

One of the best things about "Dr. Dolittle" is that it's short. The producers were wise enough to get in and out before the audience realized this was basically a one joke, one special effect story.

Murphy seems to have undergone a personal transformation in the last few years. Now he is completely at ease and in control in gentle comedies like this and "The Nutty Professor", just as he was in the sexy and crime-driven vehicles that made him a movie star in the 1980s.

It was bathroom humor that earned this picture a PG-13 rating. It may have deserved it, but kids seem to learn this stuff younger these days. Maybe they are just more open than my generation was. This touch of crudeness helps "Dr. Dolittle" to work. Full of smart remarks, these animals are survivors. They are also endearing. They assure that the movie never becomes sickeningly sweet. Besides, nobody expects Eddie Murphy to give up his bad boy image completely.

One element I found interesting is that, despite all the advances in digital special effects, when you see a lot of animals talking on screen, it doesn't look any more real than it did in the days of Francis the Talking Mule. It just cost ten times as much to create the effect.

Laugh out loud comedy.
Dr. John Dolittle (Eddie Murphy) has the so called "perfect life", a beautiful wife, two loving daughters and a career that could not be better. All that changes one night when he nearly hits a dog with his car. As he is leaving, the dog calls him a bonehead then runs off. From that day on his childhood ability to communicate with animals is back. Soon, animals are showing up at his home to get help. His colleagues suspect he's going crazy and many decisions still have to be made regarding the sale of the clinic. Just as everything is about to fall apart, a circus tiger falls seriously ill and it's John's turn to prove to everyone that he's not crazy.

No Repeats
This is a movie I bought first, primarily for the kids because of the reviews. No one ever asked to watch it a second time. I say this because one of my kids was watching the Lion King last night, for the umpteenth time. So yes, I agree that eddie murphy impressed me again with his talent... but it just didn't grab my kids, 3 boys and 2 girls. I had to give it a good rating of 3 rather than a 2 to encourage the making of good movies.

Where's Richard Pryor when we need him?
eddie murphy is a comical guy, but is he really the right guy to play in something as stupid as this? Of course, who is the right guy for it? One of the questions i can't stand to think about in this movie, is how Dolittle hears the animals speak, but their lips move and nobody notices. Can't they connect the dots? Obviously not. And obviously, the filmmakers couldn't either. ... Read more