DUDLEY DO-RIGHT

1999, Universal Pictures

Live action

Rating: PG

Approx. 77 mins.

THE STORY:

Dudley Do-Right (Brendan Fraser) always dreamed of becoming a Mountie, and has managed to fulfill his destiny. And if he only weren't such a walking disaster he would be the perfect hero. Instead, he does his best, with the best of intentions, to stop the dastardly Snidely Whiplash (Alfred Molina) from taking over the town. Along the way he tries to win the heart of the fair Nell (Sarah Jessica Parker), whom he has had a crush on since childhood.
Despite his awkwardness and the evil external forces which conspire to take away the three loves of his life-- Nell, his job and his horse-- Dudley's spirit more than compensates for his lagging intellect. Order is restored as he saves the town, gets the girl and finds his horse.

QUESTIONABLE LANGUAGE:

• Stupid
• Oh my God.
• Crap
• Idiot

VIOLENCE:

• There are fight scenes, but a point is made to avoid the use of real weapons-- rocks and fireworks take the place of bullets. 
• No senseless violence, nothing scary

TEACHING POINTS:

• It's not really a message-heavy movie, but if one has to be found there is the good triumphs over bad point  

THE UPSHOT:

Is it high art? No. Is it any kind of art? No. For those old enough, it's a hit of nostalgia. For those young enough it's a hit of silly. You could extrapolate something deeper from the representation of 'First Nations' people (Dudley is helped by the Kumquat tribe with their moccasins, giant feathered headdresses, Italian New Yorker speech and Riverdancing legs), and from the discussion of good and bad Dudley shares with the town drunk (Eric Idle). But the movie really just invites you to give your brain some time off. 

Nothing offended me, and nothing made me wish there wasn't a 4 year-old in the room.

2/5