Dudley Do-Right (1999) starring Brendan Fraser, Sarah Jessica Parker, Alfred Molina, Eric Idle directed by Hugh Wilson Movie Review

Dudley Do-Right (1999)   1/51/51/51/51/5


Alfred Molina and Brendan Fraser in Dudley Do-Right (1999)

Dudley Done Wrong

In Semi-Happy Valley, Canada, less than astute Royal Mountie Dudley (Brendan Fraser) believes that the nefarious Snidely Whiplash (Alfred Molina) is vampire hunting when he finds him at a mine. But the truth is that Snidely is up to no good and has not only found a way to obtain everyone's homes and businesses in Semi-Happy Valley but has planted some gold in the stream so to generate a gold rush. When Dudley suggests to his bosses that all is not as it seems he ends up being removed from his job which means his girlfriend Nell (Sarah Jessica Parker) is in the clutches of Snidely.

At some point I must have watched at least part of a Dudley Do-Right cartoon because when I watched "Dudley Do-Right", the live action version from 1999, I recognized the various characters and various elements from the cartoon. But recognizing aspects didn't make "Dudley Do-Right" a good movie in fact I reckon for anyone who has fond memories of the original cartoon this attempt at a live action version will be a travesty. Everything about it is weak and so many of the jokes fall embarrassingly flat.

But the thing about "Dudley Do-Right" is that it is one of those movies which is about two things; the nods to the original and the actors in the main roles. Well as mentioned I don't think those who recognize the nods will find it that amusing. As for the actors well the only good thing to come out of the movie is that Alfred Molina is great at playing comical bad guys and brings to life the scheming wackiness that his character deserves. It is a shame the rest of the cast are unable to achieve the same.

What this all boils down to is that "Dudley Do-Right" is a fail, a poor attempt to bring to life the cartoon and if it wasn't for the fun performance of Alfred Molina it would have been a complete bust.


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