The Ape

Sadly, quite possibly the worst movie I've ever seen. How it got made is beyond me. Atrocious idea, Hideous execution... The acting is pretty awful. James Franco spends half the movie with his eyes closed, hopefully trying to erase the whole experience and idea from his mind (unfortunately, it's impossible for the viewer). This movie feels very home made, with poor camera angles. There are a few pretty funny lines and one scene even manages to be downright hilarious. But it's not enough to save this work of 'art.' For a movie so obsessed with creating art, it's beyond me how Mr. Franco could honestly give this to the movie going (renting, actually, as I don't believe it ever went to theatres.. Not really a shocker) public. James Franco seriously needs to redeem himself somehow after this heinous contribution to the cinema canon. And I'm (maybe I was? I was so appalled by this movie that I'm not sure anymore) a fan of his. Do NOT rent this.

I just recently saw The Ape in Austin, and I absolutely loved it. To any who might doubt James Franco's ability behind the camera, this film will completely change you perspective. It was expertly filmed. The use of music to create almost a dance with the camera takes was wonderfully done each time. Perhaps my favorite part of this movie, however, is the actual script. Written by Franco himself, as well as Merriwether Williams, the writer of Sponge Bob Squarepants, it was originally a play, but it transferred well to the screen. Labeled a comedy/drama, each scene, no matter the situation, seems realistic and understandable. It is difficult to create a film that can make you both laugh while feeling complete pity, but this one does it effortlessly. Naturally, Franco's portrayal of the down and confused Harry is nothing short of awesome. The ending was a bit predictable, but this takes little from the impressiveness of the film. I give it a 9.

This is literally the worst movie ever made. I like James Franco and I'm always pulling for someone to succeed but lordy be, I'm stupefied by both the 225,000 dollar budget of this movie and that someone thought it was a good idea to sell it in bulk. The ape is ridiculous, his mouth doesn't move, they just don't show his face when he speaks, not to mention, they become almost lovers by the end? Was no one else extremely uncomfortable with the apogee of this plot? The plausible nature is already out the window as he moves out of his house just to write a book?

The movie just got worse as it went along and despite my hopes for something whimsically odd, it just turned sad. I bought it as a joke. Up until now I thought the Gingerdead Man starring Gary Busey was the worst movie I've seen, I stand corrected. You may step down and take the silver medal, Gary Busey.

Just sayin.

This is a pretty funny movie. James Franco is quite a comedian, which you wouldn't know from seeing some of his darker, brooding roles. Go into it keeping in mind it is a dark comedy, mostly conversational piece, indie, odd story. Harry (Franco) rents an apartment so he can get a break from his distracting family life and finally put pen to paper. The big catch is that a gorilla is already living at the apartment. The gorilla is an actor in a suit, not a real live gorilla, which I guess I would've realized was the case if I'd looked more closely at the cover art. At first I was disappointed, because I expected there would be a real monkey in the movie. I quickly got over that because the actor in the gorilla suit was quite funny and crude.

It does get a bit repetitive and there are very few locations, so I did begin getting bored mid-way through after my initial reaction to the uniqueness of the story began to wear off. I imagine it was a hilarious stage play (which it was adapted from), but I do think it probably loses some of its charm in translation to the screen. I believe it was a one-act play, so they had to "pad" the story a bit to make it long enough to be a movie. It probably would be strongest in one-act length (45 minutes or so).

Overall, it is unique and I laughed out loud many times. You can watch it and analyze some "deeper" meaning because there are definitely layers of metaphor throughout the story…or you can just watch it and laugh.

As a film school graduate, I've seen my share of terrible films. Being a fan of James Franco's, I felt that The Ape would at least be interesting. Instead, I was tricked into watching a pretentious James Franco ego-trip. The only good part of the film was its music, which wasn't featured enough. Otherwise, this film was slowly paced, overly perverse, wordy, misdirected, miscast and wildly unclever. I hate bashing somebody's hard work, but if I were to sugar-coat my feelings, somebody might make the same mistake that I made by watching The Ape.

The next time James Franco has this much time on his hands, I suggest he take up treasure hunting, or anything else that doesn't involve writing or directing.