Dudley Do-Right (1999)

Powerful

One of my all time favorites.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Whenever a cartoon is adapted to a live-action feature film, certain (often misguided) decisions are made, usually about fleshing out the characters' backstories or bringing their antics to life in "the real world". With DUDLEY DO-RIGHT (1999), the questionable choice has been made to make Dudley, Snidely, and Nell childhood buddies who've grown into their adult roles as the hero, the villain, and the damsel, respectively. The awkward prologue sets up the main characters so that the movie can get the ball rolling right after the animated opening credits.Originally appearing as self-contained backup segments within episodes of Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoons, "Dudley Do-Right" and its characters have their roots in the serialized melodramas of early silent films. The cartoons are steeped in such iconography as the mustache-twirling villain tying the damsel to the railroad tracks (or a sawmill, etc.), the jaunty piano accompaniment, and the irising camera and old-timey title cards that introduce each character. Dudley is a spoof of the brave and pure hero: a well-meaning and idealistic buffoon, who somehow (often in spite of himself) brings the bad guys to justice.Brendan Fraser plays Dudley as a slapstick dimwit who is as much a victim of his environment (for example, stepping on loose floor boards in his cabin) as he is of his own naïveté. He's a rather bland hero, rigidly devoted to his sense of right and wrong and hopelessly idealistic (not so much a ridiculous caricature as his cartoon counterpart). This builds a sense of sympathy for the poor guy, which was never really part of the cartoon iteration. Likewise, Nell (Sarah Jessica Parker) is fleshed out as a comically well-educated Yale and Harvard graduate (and former U.S. Ambassador to Guam), and not just a fickle frontier maiden who toys with Dudley's heart. Alfred Molina seems to have fun with his role as the dastardly Snidely Whiplash, playing it as cartoony as he can, and it works. (The character of Horse, the horse, doesn't add much and is largely absent from the film.)The action is propelled by the wonderful, pseudo-serious narration (by Corey Burton, in the style of Paul Frees), which takes a page right from the original cartoons. But the film makes the odd choice of setting the action in the modern day (since the cartoon from the 1960s was very specifically spoofing old-timey silent movies and a late-19th-Century setting). It's just a little odd to see Dudley standing next to a modern SUV, or to have the mustachioed Snidely watching cable news. The mix of antiquated iconography and contemporary trappings is bizarre, but I suppose that's part of the film's charm. (At least we don't get a completely modernized take on the characters.)The plot has the sinister Snidely Whiplash incite a false gold rush on his own Canadian land, bringing waves of Americans (and their wallets) over the border. Dudley faces a crisis of conscience when it's pointed out that Snidely's "wrong-doing" is actually good for the Canadian economy, and that sometimes in order to stop the "bad guy", a "good guy" has to be a little bad. (The scenes where Dudley is a "dangerous", motorcycle-riding, vigilante "bad boy" offer an interesting role-reversal with his nemesis Snidely, but stretch the character a little too far from his fumbling Mountie image.)Despite the criticisms, DUDLEY DO-RIGHT is fun because it embraces its cartoon roots. The film is very stylized, from the portrayals of the characters to the voice-over narration to the occasional fourth wall breaks to the veins of absurdity that run through the whole thing (Snidely's merchandising empire, the faux-Native American theatrical performances, Eric Idle's prospector bum-turned-wise mentor). Although the story was transported to the modern world, the filmmakers didn't tamper too much with the spirit of the source material. The narration is on-point, Snidely's goons have some funny lines, and Molina's colorful portrayal of the villain (with his alternate outfits for playing mini-golf and leading a battalion to war) makes the film worthwhile.When I saw the movie it was preceded by an animated "Fractured Fairy Tales" short, THE PHOX, THE BOX, & THE LOX (1999), which was a pleasant surprise and a pitch-perfect recreation of the old cartoons from Rocky & Bullwinkle (down to the vocal sound-alikes for Edward Everett Horton and Daws Butler, and the actual participation of June Foray).

Dudley Do-Right has a title that its badness could suggest be used for various puns of the sort. I believe a number of jokes could be made at the fact that it failed to recoup roughly eighty-six percent of its $70,000,000 budget. I seem to have an ounce of sympathy for the fact that numerous talents such as Brendan Fraser, Sarah Jessica Parker, and director Hugh Wilson in such a desperation for a quick-fix or a cash-grab that they needed to make a film based off a character I'm sure American audiences could've stomached not seeing again. So making a joke from this material seems sort of beneath me; at any rate, the fact that a studio and investors spent $70,000,000 on a Dudley Do-Right movie is a joke in itself.I can't remember the last time it was such a chore for me to sit through a seventy-seven minute movie. I became so restless that I couldn't even focus. You know how the new theater trend that is slowly emerging is autistic-friendly theaters, which are theaters that lack previews, remain a bit lighter during the show, are a tad quieter, and blunt movement and conversation is allowed, even encouraged? That kind of theater experience should've been a standard for Dudley Do-Right during its initial release. To expect an audience to remain silent during this under normal theater conditions is an act of pure torture. The only way I could've remained silent is if I slept.Preceding the film is a short called "The Phox, the Box, and the Lox," which involves a conniving Phox tricks a bone-headed Lox into opening a box that states whoever opens this will die to recover the treasure inside. This short only lasts about five minutes and it's a drag to sit through. How infrequently do I see a film with a preceding trailer that maintains the same sort of mood and effect that its successor will soon have.The film focuses on our title character, of course, a Canadian Mountie played by Brendan Fraser, who is often victim to his naivety and do-right attitude about everything life has to offer. His childhood friend Snidely (Alfred Molina) now has ambitions to take over the area where Dudley works, resulting in one of the biggest gold schemes in history. Dudley teams up with his childhood crush Nell (Sarah Jessica Parker) in an effort to spoil Snidley's plans at success and domination.Does this sound like the kind of gripping tale you want to let yourself and your children indulge in? Why on earth would you take them to see this film? Passing entertainment? Something to do because it's wet outside? It looks harmless enough? It's for their own benefit? Wrong, wrong, wrong. I consistently hear that obesity is a form of child abuse and constantly feeding your kid unhealthy food should result in some of punishment for the parent. So should taking them to view Dudley Do-Right, which is about as unhealthy and unsubstantial as a pack of Hostess cupcakes.Brendan Fraser, who sporadically appears in a film worth watching, must be given credit here for persevering through a role that is as unforgiving as a roadside mascot for a car company. The extremely high budget suggests he was compensated well, but his dignity was left undernourished as we see him victim to horse-farts, blows to the head, blows to the ego, etc. It gets beyond monotonous. How many times can you watch the same joke be repeated before you, as the helpless viewer, throw your arms up in utter defeat? I have never seen the Dudley Do-Right shorts that spawned this film and, much like after I watched the Scooby-Doo film adaptation, I have no plan to now. However, from a relatively quick glance, they seem like the kind of drudgery that was undoubtedly boosted in quality by how much sugar was in a young boy or girl's system. I don't believe any amount of sugar could make this film more bearable than it is.Dudley Do-Right is not a funny movie by any stretch of imagination. Its exposition is tired and facile, its self-referential toilet humor is ridiculous and redundant, its actors succumb themselves to some of the driest material, the sight-gags are routine, and its hero is so dreadfully incompetent that one wants to show him the way to the wardrobe for a costume change and into the breakroom.Starring: Brendan Fraser, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Alfred Molina. Directed by: Hugo Wilson.

After reading nothing but terrible reviews of this movie, I finally felt compelled to weigh in. I loved the Jay Ward comics... their irreverence and ability to be entertaining on both an adult and child level. I found the movie sweetly amusing and very loyal to the classic cartoon. All the actors were great in their roles. The writing was clever.I gave it to my twin nephews for their birthday, knowing they will enjoy it and my sister will love it. After reading such dreadful reviews, I watched it twice to make certain I wasn't missing something. NO. It's funny.

I read some of the reviews here before watching this and was expecting a bomb but it surprised me to the upside. Fraser does a good job as dudley though why they had him play the role 30 pounds overweight, i don't know. I've never liked Sarah Jessica Parker because she's not pretty but she's well cast here as Nell, who is not supposed to be that good-looking anyway. In the cartoon series she played something of a vamp constantly chasing the clueless dudley. In the movie they inexplicably left that side of her out and she's just dudley's (and snidley's) girl. Speaking of snidley he is, as expected, the real star. Alfred Molina does a great job. Without him this show would have been a bomb.