Monkey Bone

There is a tradition in Hollywood of making good, twisted movies  (NightmareBefore Christmas, James and the Giant Peach) with lots of special effects and greatdesign. But this one misses the mark by miles. Except for the packaging—and use ofanimation in the beginning—everything about Monkey Bone seems to be wrong. BrendanFraser plays the troubled/sensitive cartoonist who enters a weird world of nightmaresafter a near-fatal accident which lands him in a coma. He meets one of his own creations, MonkeyBone, who ridicules his master and gives other creepy creatures a lot of trouble. TheMonkey is happy to be free and out of his creator's grasp; the creator is concernedmore about how his girlfriend, Bridget Fonda, who took him out of a sleeping disorder, iscoping with his 'disappearance'.

The idea sounds messed up even on paper. There's more to come—Monkey Boneenters Fraser's body and tries to sleep with his boss' girlfriend. But here, aselsewhere, the situation and its build-up are bland—the monkey falls flat on his noseafter doing a suggestive jig. He then chickens out in the face of Fraser's dog'sincessant barking and his own penchant for hotter chicks. Then Whoopie Goldberg enters assome kind of a death agent who goes all mushy over our cute-faced hero. She grants him adead man's body—"hold it"—to test his love. By this time,director Henry Selick decides to introduce a little bit of morbid comedy in the affair.

But the problem with the movie is that you cannot laugh much at livers and pancreaslanding on ground, being picked up by a silly bunch of doctors who seem more out of someold Carry on Nurse type of series. The filmmaker wants us to believe he isplaying around with some great notions about sleep being the bigger demon than death in amock fairytale format. But the big-faced, ugly creatures seem too contrived, tame andmade-to-order for interesting consumption.
Fraser's limited acting talents appear strained and Bridget Fonda is wasted, asusual, in a big-budget studio movie. In the end, the monkey cooks up a wicked plan torelease a 'dangerous' spray—it leads Brendan's partner to do a nakedact before guests at a charity ball.

But by then you are too bored and pissed off—even to cry boo.