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.
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.