Dolittle

Right now you can watch Dolittle in Australia on Amazon Prime Video and BINGE — and it is funnier than its reputation suggests. The runtime earns every minute, with nothing here that feels like padding. A 7/10 rating says what the writing already makes obvious: this one works. Watch it for Robert Downey Jr. — stay for everyone else around them. Start it on Amazon Prime Video whenever you need something guaranteed to land.

Dolittle arrived without much fanfare and built its audience the hard way — through word of mouth. Dolittle gets the fundamentals right first, then finds room to get weird with it. After losing his wife seven years earlier, the eccentric Dr. John Dolittle, famed doctor and veterinarian of Queen Victoria’s England, hermits himself away behind the high walls of Dolittle Manor with only his menagerie of exotic animals for company. But when the young queen falls gravely ill, a reluctant Dolittle is forced to set sail on an epic adventure to a mythical island in search of a cure, regaining his wit and courage as he crosses old adversaries and discovers wondrous creatures. Between them, Robert Downey Jr. And Harry Collett carry the comedy without ever forcing it. It hit screens in 2020. The real test of any comedy is whether it is still funny once you know all the jokes, and Dolittle holds up on rewatch in a way that separates it from one-off curiosities. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages.

Dolittle is the kind of thing you put on in the background and end up fully watching. It stands on its own even without an obvious comparison point. A contained runtime means every scene is doing real work. Robert Downey Jr.'s comic timing carries it through its weaker moments. The kind of comedy you recommend to someone who claims they do not watch much.