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American Morning
Showbiz Today Reports: 'Rolling Stone' Critic Gives Picks for Weekend Movies
Aired June 22, 2001 - 11:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, I'm Michael Okwu, in New York.
It may be a wild weekend on the big screen, as Eddie Murphy returns as Dr. Dolittle this weekend. Here's a peek.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DOG: Yes, who's there?
EDDIE MURPHY, ACTOR: Hey, it's me. I forgot my key. Open up.
DOG: Well, then I guess you'll have to beg. Come on, beg.
MURPHY: I know you better open up the door, before I -- just open the door, Lucky.
ANNOUNCER: He was born with an incredible gift...
MURPHY: Anytime, ladies, anytime. Thank you.
ANNOUNCER: ... to understand animals.
MURPHY: You just don't come up here on my balcony. Make an appointment.
DOG: Bring me a bone.
FROG: And a large order of flies -- supersized.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OKWU: Joining us now to talk about the Eddie Murphy sequel and other weekend releases is Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone."
Eddie Murphy is talking to animals again, Peter.
PETER TRAVERS, "ROLLING STONE": You're going to ask me my he's doing that?
OKWU: Why?
TRAVERS: Because when they made the first Dr. Dolittle movie, in 1998, it grossed $290 million worldwide, so they said, Eddie, come back, do it again. There's nothing wrong with taking kids to watch a movie where animals speak, except it has about 10 minutes of entertainment value, and then it just reduces itself to a fast, fat paycheck for Eddie. That's really all that it is, Michael. I'm sorry to say that. But at least something you could take the kids to.
But you know, "Shrek," which is out there still, raised the bar on family fun. That is the movie I would say to go to.
OKWU: I'm not even going to ask you whether Eddie Murphy's back, the question that we've been asking for seven years.
TRAVERS: Yes, he's back in "Shrek." You don't have to see Eddie Murphy, but you hear the voice, and the performance there is so much better.
OKWU: Another movie coming out this weekend is "The Fast and the Furious," a testosterone-filled movie that's about fast cars.
TRAVERS: It's about fast cars, and it stars an actor who is really named Vin Diesel. Can you imagine this guy, waiting all his career to be in a movie about fuel; he finally gets it. This is a movie that is really aimed at young men of all ages who want to see cars go splat and watch nitroglycerine be put into the fuel -- and just zoom ahead. There's a plot; there's a little thing about an undercover cop going under to find out are these drag racing in Los Angeles things really a cover for truck hijacking -- Michael, I don't care. You won't either -- believe me, nobody will.
OKWU: The movie I really want to talk to you about is "A.I.," which Stephen Spielberg took over from Stanley Kubrick. It was Kubrick's baby. You had the opportunity to see it.
TRAVERS: I did. It's coming out next week, but it's very rare that I can say look forward to something, people. Look forward to something out there. It is.
Is it is a perfect movie? It is not. It is two personalities: the late Stanley Kubrick, who really worked on the script, for 10 years -- with Spielberg. The idea of Spielberg, who's a crowd- pleasing kind of director, working with Kubrick is almost like asking Ron Howard to help Francis Coppola do "Apocalypse Now." It kind of dilutes it.
But even though the movie fails, ultimately, to be the great movie everybody's waiting for, it's fascinating because it's made by two filmmakers. And Haley Joel Osment -- the kid from "The Sixth Sense" -- gives one of the best performance you'll see this year, as the little robot boy who really wants to be a real boy. It's Pinocchio; it sounds sappy -- it's not, it's dark.
OKWU: We've to wrap it -- in two words or less: Is he going to get an Oscar nomination?
TRAVERS: He's going to be nominated again, and people are going to say, We forgive you, Haley, for "Pay It Forward" -- a movie I couldn't take -- you're back in our good graces.
"A.I." is actually a movie worth seeing.
OKWU: Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone," always a pleasure.
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