The Ape (2005)

Perfectly adorable

Too much about the plot just didn't add up, the writing was bad, some of the scenes were cringey and awkward,

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

One of the first complaints a person makes about someone who reviews a movie they don't like is to say "if you don't like, why bother reviewing it?". I can understand that viewpoint to a certain extent, but I feel compelled to write this review so that others can learn from my mistake, and avoid watching this God-awful movie.First, I'd like to give a little background information as to why I rented this movie to begin with: I had only seen James Franco in a handful of films, but thought he was great in the ones I had seen. Such titles include his "James Dean" biopic made for TNT, and "City by the Sea", in which he co-starred with Robert De Niro. I thought since he had such a hands-on role in the production of this film, it must be good. After all, he wrote, directed and ultimately starred in this "comedy", suffice it to say, "The Ape" was clearly Franco's "baby".This movie just goes from bad to worse, really it does. Looking back, I'm not even sure why I watched it till the end. I guess there was a part of me that was hoping it would make up for itself by the time it reached the credits. I'll spoil the suspense for those reading this review wondering if it accomplished that feat…it didn't."The Ape" doesn't even really feel like a real movie, but rather a homework assignment put together by a highly immature high school or college student. I guess based of his previous work, I just expected more out of Franco. In fact, "The Ape" put such a bad taste in my mouth regarding Franco that it was quite a while before I was willing to give him another chance. I still feel he's yet to recapture the magic of his earlier performances, but anything's an improvement over this steam piling of garbage.I'm not alone in having this opinion. I also watched this movie with a few friends, who were equally confused by this movie. I felt embarrassed for having picked it out for us to watch, and they, too, thought it was one of the worst movies they'd ever seen as well.I cannot stress enough to avoid "The Ape" at all costs, trust me, it's for your own good. If you're a fan of Franco then definitely skip it, it'll only hurt your impression of him. If you're unfamiliar with Franco's work, you won't want to start with "The Ape", that's for sure. It'll forever warp your impression of him, and I believe will adversely affect your ability to enjoy watching him in other films. The only type of person who might enjoy this, is someone who doesn't like Franco, and wants to use it as a reference point of why he's not a very good writer, director, or actor. On that level, and that level alone, it succeeds.Is it unfair to criticize Franco so harshly for one movie? Ordinarily, yes. Every actor picks a few bad roles in their lifetime, but not just any actor chooses to write and direct themselves into such an embarrassing role.

After being surprised by James Franco's comic chops in Pineapple Express, I went back to watch any and all comedies he's ever done. The Ape is certainly a different brand of humor than Apatow's Freaks & Geeks. There is a very dark element throughout, which recalls Kafka more than Dostoevsky (who is the literary muse on screen). The film is an unmistakable stageplay-- founded on dialogue, helping itself to more absurdity than cinema generally allows. Not that these are necessarily bad things. The quasi-philosophical exchanges between Harry and the Ape are by far the strongest sections of this movie (the SMAD practice presentation scene sent a roomful of us into fits). It's a bit problematic when the same level of expository philosophy seeps into the dialogue outside of Harry's apartment, however (as in the scene where Harry's coworkers discuss the merits of "boredom"). As an actor, Franco looks like he's having fun, and makes a wise choice to punctuate the dialogue-heavy script with a lot of physical slapstick. As a director, there are glaring problems with filming angles, especially in the early scenes where the unsteady camera is downright distracting. Only in the final scene does the cinematography finally come into its own. Despite some obvious flaws, the film felt like an enjoyable outing to a small local theater.

James Franco plays Harry, a struggling writer who leaves his wife and child to pursue his novel-writing career. But he finds the apartment comes with a surprise: he must take care of the previous owner's ape. Soon, his marriage, job and mental stability begin to crumble and he has nothing left but the ape.This film screams "independent film channel" by the way it was filmed. I don't know what it is specifically, other than it being independent, but it has that college feel that will only really make certain people happy. It made me happy, though it's far from the best indie film I've ever seen.James Franco, who everyone except me knows from "Spider-Man", is amazing: writing, directing and acting in this little piece. I think the writing was exceptional, with lots of good dialog, some unusual Dostoevsky references (which never get explained) and some good jokes, too. I really couldn't stop laughing about the whole "RedezJew" website. I don't think it was supposed to be so funny, but it was.I also really liked the SMAD personality test (Social, Martyr, Ambitious, Dependable). The conversation about who is a "social" and who is "ambitious" really has connotations beyond this film. Dependable and martyr are never explored, which is too bad -- I would love to know what they consider a martyr to be.The obvious complaint would be the horrible gorilla costume. It's not even a very good costume. But, it also becomes clear that the creators (Franco?) didn't care. You can see through the eye holes, and sometimes it's very amusing. And you know what? It works. If a movie tries to be serious and gives you this, they don't deserve any respect. But to be so blunt about their cheapness makes it alright. (Compare this to Teen Ape from "Filthy McNasty" -- that costume is even worse, but makes sense for the film.) The ending was a little abrupt. Just as we begin to explore Franco's mind, it comes crashing down. I can't say exactly how (because that would be a spoiler), but so many questions went unanswered and they simply cannot be figured out with multiple viewings. In this respect, the writing was not so good -- unless the point was to keep us wondering, but I doubt that.If you can find this film (it's hard, I've tried) you should check it out. May not be your cup of tea, but it's probably different from everything else you've ever seen. It's a good parable of what happens when ambitions swell up inside a man with no capabilities of pulling off his dreams. It's a pessimism piece, and we need more of those -- this world's just too happy sometimes.

I had to rent this movie just because it sounded so off-the-wall that I would probably enjoy it. I did. I've been a fan of James Franco since "Freaks and Geeks" and I was excited to see that he had written and directed the film. He's a great actor and he was great here as the frustrated writer, Harry Walker. Mr. Walker rents an apartment so he can be away from his family to concentrate on his writing. He moves in only to find a talking, wise-cracking, clothes-wearing ape already lives there. It's just such a goofy concept and I love that the ape costume doesn't even come CLOSE to looking realistic. Yet, it's really supposed to be an ape, not a man in an ape suit. It's part of the movie's charm. Brain Lally is great as the ape. The dialogue back and forth between Lally and Franco is hilarious. It's just a great little independent film.