Dudley Do-Right (film)

Dudley Do-Right
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Hugh Wilson
Produced by	John Davis J. Todd Harris Joseph M. Singer
Screenplay by	Hugh Wilson
Based on	Characters by Jay Ward
Narrated by	Corey Burton
Starring	Brendan Fraser Sarah Jessica Parker Alfred Molina
Music by	Steve Dorff
Cinematography	Donald R. Thorin
Editing by	Don Brochu
Studio	Davis Entertainment Jay Ward Productions Classic Media
Distributed by	Universal Studios
Release date(s)	August 27, 1999
Running time	82 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	English
Budget	$70 million
Box office	$9,974,410

Dudley Do-Right is a 1999 romantic comedy film, based on Jay Ward's Dudley Do-Right, produced by Davis Entertainment for Universal Studios. The film stars Brendan Fraser as the cartoon's title character. It was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Dudley Do-Right was Fraser's second film based on a Jay Ward cartoon, George of the Jungle having been his first, in 1997.

Plot

The story begins with three children and a horse. These are young versions of Dudley Do-Right (Dyllan Christopher), Nell Fenwick (Ashley Yarman), Snidely Whiplash (Jeremy Bergman), and Horse. The three talk of their aspirations; Dudley believes he is destined to be a royal Canadian Mountie while Nell wishes to see the world. Snidely, however, wishes to be the "bad guy".

Several years later, all three have fulfilled their supposed destinies. Dudley (Brendan Fraser) is now a Mountie (but always sticks to the rules and is frequently oblivious to even the most obvious of things), and Snidely (Alfred Molina) has become an infamous bank robber. After Snidely and his gang rob a bank of its money and gold, Snidely tricks his entire gang into believing he has fled with the bulk of the cash to the Sudan and going on a wild goose chase after him. Snidely subsequently salts the stolen gold and spreads it in the lakes. Dudley catches him the act, but Snidely fools him into thinking he is vampire hunting, and uses a similar tactic to scare Horse off. Not long after, Nell (Sarah Jessica Parker) returns from her world tour and reunites with Dudley. The two attend a festival at the nearby Kumquat tribe.

Meanwhile, Prospector Kim J. Darling (Eric Idle), the poorest man in Semi-Happy Valley, stumbles across the gold in the river and is made into a media sensation by Snidely. The subsequent gold rush boosts Snidely's popularity and he quickly takes control of the town, renaming it "Whiplash City". Eventually, Snidely's men return from the Sudan to kill him for his deceit, but Snidely convinces them otherwise by offering them lives of luxury in his new town. Dudley becomes convinced that Snidely is up to something and confronts him, but Snidely laughs him off and snatches Nell from him. Snidely sends his second in command, Homer, to assassinate Dudley with a bomb, but Dudley is absent when the bomb goes off. Nell's father, Inspector Fenwick (Robert Prosky), discovers this and discharges Dudley from the Mounties. Dudley falls into a depression and wanders across the town until he runs into a drunken Darling, who offers him shelter at his underground cave in the woods. Darling tells Dudley of Snidely's plans and newfound popularity, and takes him to see a Gala Ball in Snidely's honor. Dudley comically attempts to take Nell back from Snidely, but loses pathetically.

Darling decides to put Dudley through some training to make him a more formidable opponent, which basically involved Dudley being pummeled with stones in a trust exercise and beaten with sticks in an attempt to heighten his senses. At the end of the training, which leaves Dudley barely conscious, Darling comments that Dudley will be perfectly alright against the enemy, depending they DON'T attack him with sticks. Dudley's first act is to intimidate one of Snidely's men into telling him the next gold shipment. Dudley sabotages the shipment and leaves his mark on Snidely's workshop, as well as his favorite golf course. Eventually, Darling leaves to find his family, and parts ways with Dudley, thanking him for his friendship. Dudley then uses his new training to win Nell back from Snidely, who swears revenge. Snidely attempts to rally the people against Dudley, but their lingering respect for Dudley only turns them against Snidely. Snidely ultimately discovers that Dudley and Nell are at another festival with the Kumquat tribe, and leads a full scale attack on them. The Kumquats flee for their lives until Horse reappears and helps Dudley sabotage Snidely's tanks by making Snidely and Homer accidentally shoot each other. A cavalry of Mounties appears and arrests Snidely and his men. Darling also arrives with his wife and is reunited with Dudley, revealing that they called out the cavalry. Inspector Fenwick reinstates Dudley in the Mounties.

The final scene shows Dudley and Nell living together in Dudley's rebuilt house. They share a kiss as the film closes.

Cast

• Corey Burton - Voice of narrator
• Brendan Fraser - Dudley Do-Right
• Sarah Jessica Parker - Nell Fenwick
• Alfred Molina - Snidely Whiplash
• Eric Idle - Prospector Kim J. Darling
• Robert Prosky - Inspector Fenwick
• Alex Rocco - Kumquat Chief
• Jack Kehler - Homer
• Don Yesso - Kenneth
• Jed Rees - Lavar
• C. Ernst Harth - Shane
• Regis Philbin - Regis
• Kathie Lee Gifford - Kathie Lee
• Michael Chambers - Dancer
• Anne Fletcher - Dancer

Reception

The film was a box office failure. According to the Box Office Mojo website (http://www.boxofficemojo.com), the film had an opening weekend gross (domestically) of $3,018,345, which then went on to have a "domestic total gross" of $9,974,410.^[1] According to the website, the film was made on a budget of $70 million. The film currently has a rating of 14% at Rotten Tomatoes.^[2]

Critic Roger Ebert gave the movie a two and a half stars rating: "Dudley Do-Right is a genial live-action version of the old cartoon, with a lot of broad slapstick humor that kids like and adults wince at. I did a little wincing the ninth or 10th time Dudley stepped on a loose plank and it slammed him in the head, but I enjoyed the film more than I expected to. It's harmless, simple-minded, and has a couple of sequences better than Dudley really deserves."^[3]

References

1. ^ Dudley Do-Right at Box Office Mojo
2. ^ Dudley Do-Right at Rotten Tomatoes
3. ^ Ebert, Roger (August 27, 1999). "Review of Dudley Do-Right". Chicago Sun-Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19990827%2FREVIEWS%2F908270302%2F1023&AID1=%2F19990827%2FREVIEWS%2F908270302%2F1023&AID2=. 

External links

• Dudley Do-Right at the Internet Movie Database
• Dudley Do-Right at AllRovi
• Dudley Do-Right at Box Office Mojo
• Dudley Do-Right at Rotten Tomatoes