Few modern films have suffered the slings and arrows of critics quite like Dolittle, Robert Downey Jr.’s much-maligned first post-Marvel gambit. Our review, for example, lambasted its “confused, sweaty, zigzag approach to storytelling,” as well as the choice to sandwich its kid-friendly gimmick—kindly doctor speaks to animals—between a dead wife subplot and a dragon enema.
The wonderful thing about art, however, is that it lives on forever, just waiting to be picked up, reassessed, and, at long last, understood. Just look at John Carpenter’s The Thing or Karyn Kusama’s Jennifer’s Body—both have evolved into cult classics in the years since their respective releases. Is Dolittle next? Were the critics wrong? Was the dragon enema good, actually?
One influential voice says yes. That voice? Britney Spears.
The socialist hero and occasional pop star took to Instagram—where she’s just been killing it lately—to call the film “a must see !!!”
“@RobertDowneyJr is so genuine you fall in love with him,” she writes, adding that “the animal characters” are hilarious and that the “jackets and clothing” are such that you may get distracted from the story. Thankfully, Spears asserts that so long as you remember that Dolittle is “a man who can speak to animals and he’s brilliant,” you’ll be fine.
Overall, she seems to suggest Dolittle is more of an atmospheric experience than anything, mulling that “there seems to be a Special Tone throughout the whole movie which I find hard to find these days.” While we’re unsure what she means by “Special Tone,” we imagine it’s akin to the warm fuzzies we get from the colorful abundance of parrot, whale, lion, pig, and butterfly emojis peppered within.
Sometimes it takes decades for a movie to find its audience. For Dolittle, it only took a few months.
Now do Uncut Gems, Brit.
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