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Review by Dustin Putman
1 star out of 4
There is a good movie hiding somewhere within "Monkeybone," just breaking to
get out. Equipped with an imaginative premise and occasionally eye-popping
visuals of a world and creatures that have never been glimpsed before on the
silver screen, this otherwordly fantasy should be alive with energy and
originality, but it isn't. It is an empty, lethargic slug of a movie that
creeps along with several good ideas, but does nothing with them.
Stu Smiley (Brendan Fraser) has created an offbeat cartoon known as
"Monkeybone" that has just been picked up by the Comedy Channel. Not really
interested in mainstream success, his career is, nonetheless, just about to
take off. On his way home from a premiere party with his loving girlfriend,
Julie (Bridget Fonda), whom he is about to propose to, they are involved in a
freak car accident with an unwieldily balloon that leaves her unharmed, but
Stu in a deep coma. From here on, Stu finds himself arriving in a fantasy
world known as Downtown, inhabited by creatures big and small, including
Monkeybone himself (voiced annoyingly by John Turturro). He soon comes to
find that it is a netherworld in which he is to stay in until word comes
whether he should be sent to Heaven or Hell, or return to his life and
girlfriend. Meanwhile, back on Earth, it has been three months since the
accident and Stu is showing no signs of progression. When his older sister,
Kimmy (Megan Mullally), decides it is time to pull the plug on him, Julie
plots to inject him with "nightmare juice" that she hopes will scare him out
of his comatose state.
At just 87 minutes (including opening and ending credits), "Monkeybone" feels
like an ambitious film that was destroyed by a directing and editing hack
job. While the movie just barely makes sense, it is also clear that large
amounts have been cut out, and to lethal effect. In Harry Knowles' scathing
review at "Ain't-It-Cool-News," he speaks of how the original screenplay,
loosely based on a comic book called "Dark Town," was an extravagant,
brilliant piece of originality and wonder, and in the process of getting it
to the screen, large amounts were edited out after a shaky test-screening, or
never filmed at all, due to budget restraints. Knowing this, it can safely be
said that "Monkeybone" may very well have once been a good motion picture,
but has, instead, been turned into a lifeless, overblown monstrosity.
While the scenes set in Downtown are, indeed, a visual feast of gorgeous set
decoration and production design, they always feel rushed, as we
intermittently are taken back to the world of the living to follow Julie's
plight. Because of this, there is no rhythm or natural flow to any of it, and
its spare parts clank together like pieces of rusted metal. Not only that,
but director Henry Selick (who fared much better with 1993's "The Nightmare
Before Christmas," and is making his live-action debut here) proves to not
have a gift with human actors, as none of the characters are the least bit
interesting, and hardly any of the actors give inspired performances.
To be fair, no one is given much screen time except for Brendan Fraser
(1999's "The Mummy") and Bridget Fonda (1999's "Lake Placid"), but even they
seem distant throughout, as if their hearts simply weren't in on this
production. Neither is given anything worthwhile to do, and their roles feel
painfully rote. All of the other actors just struggle to appear onscreen at
all, and each one of them is wasted. There seems to be promise in the
friendly relationship between Stu and a half-cat/half-human named Kitty,
played by Rose McGowan (2000's "Ready to Rumble"), but something tells me
most of her scenes found their way to the cutting room floor. Aside from the
humorous initial reaction to see Whoopi Goldberg play Death, she is given
nothing to do. The same goes for the highly talented and extremely funny
Megan Mullally (TV's "Will & Grace"), who isn't offered one funny line to
utter. Only Chris Kattan (TV's "Saturday Night Live"), as a recently deceased
runner whose body is inhabited by Stu, stands out from the crowd, and
successfully blends both physical comedy and drama. Unfortunately, his screen
time is as brief as everyone else's.
"Monkeybone" is a very bad movie, and amazingly so. With a story so fresh and
a world so promising, it almost feels as if the results were intentionally
botched. Whatever the case may be, the finished product is far more dull and
artificial than it has any right to be. It leaves you feeling frustrated and
angry at everyone involved in its journey to the screen.
Copyright © 2001 Dustin Putman
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out of 4
