Robert Downey Jr. channeling Petyr Baelish? The newly-released “Dolittle” is bomb-worthy drivel from 5-time academy award winner Kirk Lazarus.
In “Dolittle,” Downey Jr. looks, acts and whispers in very much the same manner as he did in the Sherlock Holmes films. Listen, I love the nonchalant persona RDJ has developed over the years as much as the next person, but the fact that “Dolittle” is bombing with critics nationwide should not surprise anyone. The January release date was already fairly worrisome, but, then I found this little nugget about reshoots having happened during post-production [via THR]:
“In April 2019, it was reported the film had undergone 21 days of reshoots following poor test screenings. Director Jonathan Liebesman (TMNT) helped to oversee the filming alongside Gaghan while Chris McKay helped write new material after it became clear from first cuts that the comedy and computer-generated elements of the film were not coming together as well as the producers had hoped. [Retrieved April 15,2019].
Downey is now in the odd position of building a post-Marvel acting career. Is he even interested in doing that or will he just resort to banking his buck on cheap franchise shtick like “Dolittle”? "Dolittle" made under $1 million at the domestic box office on Thursday. It cost $175 million to make, meaning the disastrous opening weekend will no doubt make it an all-time bomb.
I’m seeing plenty of “worst of the year” mentions for “Ice Cream Man,” which doesn’t surprise me one bit. Roth has never been a critical darling and has only been more burdened by that with each passing film.