Doctor Detroit

This movie can be described only as silly.

When a "bad guy" is pressured by "momma" he invents a fictional character, haistily named Doctor Detriot. When momma asks to meet him he sets up Dan Ackroyd, the unlikely wimp, builds his confidence, give him some make-up and volla! He kicks some butt.

This movie has few laughs and isn't one of Dan Ackroyd's best. Neighbours, The Blues Brothers and even Ghostbusters are good so see them in preference to this.

I remember seeing this movie on VHS while I worked at a video rental store in the 80's. I thought it was a funny campy movie but Hey! I like these kind of movies now and then. I always like Dan Akroyd movies so it didn't matter if this was not up to snuff with the likes of Ghostbusters or Blues Brothers. It was hard to believe he made that film then. I recently acquired this movie on laserdisc just about a week ago. I had not seen the movie since the 80's. I since taped over my VHS dub many years ago. It was great to sit down and have a few laughs and once again see the 'Doctor' in action. The picture is clean with only a few spots and scratches. The sound is only analog and not digital but delivers very surprising and powerful for an older movie. It's a fun film never the less. Yeah! it was no box office smash or a great comedy or action film, but there's just something about these lesser movies that brings you back to a better time. Dan does a great job even with the film's downfalls. Hey he got a great wife out of the deal marrying Donna Dixon from the film! It falls in the category with the likes of 'Howard the Duck'. Both were box office failures but there are still those devoted fans out there still searching for these 'gems' everyday. So for me the 'Doctor' is always 'in' my movie collection.

Okay, the characters are lively and likable, but the story is cartoon-like, so simplified that it is totally forgettable. One positive is the sharp editing, that keeps things moving along. Negatives would be the lack of enough laughs to recommend second viewings, and cartoon-like goings on that are seriously squirm inducing. "Doctor Detroit" comes across as a not fully developed "Saturday Night Live" skit. While the characters are certainly colorful, there is no real bite to the story. Fran Drescher and Howard Hessman try their stereotyped best, while Dan Aykroyd cavorts about trying to hold things together, but to no avail. Stick with "Trading Places" and avoid the comedic letdown of "Doctor Detroit". - MERK

As others may have pointed out, this is mostly Dan A. doing his schtick with a couple of characters that he had not entirely fleshed out. But one thing you should see (hear) this movie for is the sound track!

You have Devo, James Brown, and Lalo Schifrin (in probably his only excursion into "soul music"--and what an excursion it is).

Almost 20 years later, I still listen to this album on a regular basis.

This is not the type of movie you watch for the clever plot and well-defined characters. This is a cheap, bawdy comic romp to be enjoyed with the fellas at a weekend get-together or at a bachelor party. Where else can you see a nubile young Fran Drescher wearing next to nothing and James Brown urging a crowd of scantily clad dancers to "get up offa that thang" in the same movie?

Nothing wrong with a little mindless entertainment, especially since Dr. Detroit doesn't pretend to be anything else.