Dr. Dolittle

If you can talk to the animals, the one place you don't want to be is a dog pound. Dr. John Dolittle, as we all know from the children's stories by Hugh Lofting, is blessed/cursed with such an ability, and when he sets foot into the pound, one pooch mourns, "I promise I'll never bite again," while another mutt shouts, "Dead dog walking!" Yep, the animals are up on their pop culture, and Dolittle, played by Eddie Murphy, is the only one in on the secret. Trying to keep this ability hidden, Murphy displays some of the sneakiness of his Beverly Cop days. But he's not given the opportunity to create zany characters as he did in The Nutty Professor -- here, the animals star. Voiced by a who's who of comics, these furballs, most notably Chris Rock as a trash-talkin' guinea pig, Albert Brooks as a suicidal tiger, and Norm MacDonald as Dolittle's sarcastic but big-hearted dog, are, as Jenna Elfman's owl might say, a hoot. And with ailing critters of all kinds waiting for Dolittle's medical expertise, the key word is: cute. But when you've got Murphy teaming up with director Betty Thomas (Howard Stern's Private Parts), there's also room for the crass. Turns out dogs don't like it either when the vet (here played by Larry Sanders sidekick Jeffrey Tambor) sticks thermometers up their butts.

-- Mark Bazer