Dir: Henry Selick
Starring
Brendan Fraser
Bridgette Fonda
Jon Turturro (voice)
Chris Kattan
2001
PG-13, 100 m
RATING: 6 out of 10
Brendan Fraser stars as Stu Miley, cartoonist who's creation Monkeybone (unrecognizably voiced by John Turturro) has landed him a TV series. He and girflfriend Bridgette Fonda (in a thankless, 2-D role) abruptly become involved in a car accident, after which Stu falls into a coma and is whisked away to DownTown, a weighstation for souls as their fate is determined, and whose otherworldly, twisted array of characters thrive on the nightmares of humans. Monkeybone hatches a plot to take over Stu's body and feed DownTown tons of fresh nightmares using a 'nightmare juice' created by Stu's girlfriend.
Yes, it is original, but rarely does it ever get amusing. The $70 million budget is clearly all on the screen, with, again, some technicaly dazzling and darkly creative sets and creatures, but the main characters are all severly underwritten. Brend Fraser is appealing enough as Stu Miley, but Bridget Fonda has some of the worst dialogue of the year. The character of Monkeybone is a thoroughly annoying, unfunny creation. Part Alf, part Pokemon, every line and scene from and about him is inherently grating. Also, the funniest scene (which is truly laugh-out-loud), involving Chris Kattan as a recently killed gymanast, only comes toward the end of the movie.
If only the rest of the scenes could have been as cleverly written and performed as the final ones, Monkeybone would have worked. Instead, we are given a visual knockout of a movie with no heart. Monkeybone is worth a look, simply for the creativity and imagination used in creating the netherworld of Stu's subconcious.
Home
