(2001) (Brendan Fraser, Bridget Fonda) (PG-13)
| Alcohol/ Drugs |
Blood/Gore | Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude |
Frightening/ Tense Scenes |
Guns/ Weapons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | *Moderate | Mild |
| Imitative Behavior |
Jump Scenes |
Music (Scary/Tense) |
Music (Inappropriate) |
Profanity |
| Mild | None | Moderate | Mild | Moderate |
| Sex/ Nudity |
Smoking | Tense
Family Scenes |
Topics
To Talk About |
Violence |
| Heavy | Minor | Minor | Mild | Moderate |
- QUICK TAKE:
- Comedy: After entering a bizarre subconscious world upon falling into a coma, a cartoonist tries to stop his simian cartoon creation that's escaped to the world of the living and now possesses his body.
- PLOT:
- Stu Miley (BRENDAN FRASER) is a
modest cartoonist who's finally achieving success in both his professional
and personal life. His ribald comic strip creation, Monkeybone, that
features a wisecracking and salacious simian of the same name, is about to
become a national TV show, and he's about to propose to his beautiful
girlfriend, Julie McElroy (BRIDGET FONDA).
While his manager, Herb (DAVID FOLEY), wants to market the Monkeybone franchise as much as possible, Stu wants to keep things simple. Unfortunately, he doesn't get the chance when a freak accident leaves him in a coma, with his conscious self sinking down into a bizarre world called Downtown, where others exist in an odd, carnival-like way station halfway between the living and death.
While Julie stays by his side and tries to ward off the attempts of Stu's sister, Kimmy (MEGAN MULLALLY), from pulling the plug on him, Stu's subconscious self in Downtown meets the physical incarnation of Monkeybone (voiced by JOHN TURTURRO), an irritating and ever-present monkey who's a constant thorn in his side when not making lewd comments to Kitty (ROSE McGOWAN), a waitress dressed in a cat motif.
Stu also meets Hypnos (GIANCARLO ESPOSITO), the half man, half goat ruler of Downtown, who informs him that the only way out is to travel to the underworld and steal an "exit pass" from none other than Death (WHOOPI GOLDBERG). Stu tries just that, but then learns that Hypnos has enlisted Monkeybone to steal the pass, travel up top and possess Stu's body, and then induce nightmares in the living for the entertainment of those stuck in Downtown. From that point on, and after being placed in the organ donor body of a dead gymnast (CHRIS KATTAN), Stu does what he can to stop his creation from doing all of that.
- WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
- The presence of an animated monkey and Brendan Fraser (of "George of the Jungle" fame) may entice many younger kids to this film, while some teens may find the concept somewhat intriguing to them.
- WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13
- For crude humor and some nudity.
- CAST AS ROLE MODELS:
-
- BRENDAN FRASER plays a mild-mannered cartoonist who finds himself stuck in a bizarre, subterranean world after slipping into a coma. He also plays the version of Stu that's possessed by Monkeybone and acts like a lewd and crude simian in a human's body.
- BRIDGET FONDA plays his loyal girlfriend who stays by his side during the coma and then tries to cope with him once he comes out of it and is controlled by Monkeybone.
- ROSE McGOWAN plays a voluptuous and somewhat sensuous waitress in Downtown who helps Stu and dresses in a cat motif.
- GIANCARLO ESPOSITO plays the half man, half goat ruler of Downtown who uses Stu and his goals for his own self-gratifying purposes.
- WHOOPI GOLDBERG plays Death who runs the underworld like a business and occasionally - and literally - blows her top when things don't go her way.
- CHRIS KATTAN plays a corpse that's come back to life with a broken neck.
- DAVID FOLEY plays Stu's materialistic manager/agent who wants to capitalize on the marketing opportunities that Monkeybone presents. In one scene, and under the influence of a nightmare gas, he runs out through a restaurant buck-naked.
