Inside Monkey Zetterland

In 2003 "Lost in Translation" finally broke the mould of films that were nothing more or less than intense character studies. That film has a sheet-thin plot, and for an hour and a half an audience watches two actors (Scarlet Johannsen and Bill Murray) FORCE them to care about the social plights of two characters. "Inside Monkey Zetterland" takes a far quirkier approach to the concept of character study, and succeeds just as well. Perhaps it's no coincidence that Sofia Coppola, director of the former, has a supporting role in the latter. "Monkey" delivers an ensemble case of quirky characters in zany situations that allow them, through their own character study, to make the plot simply about PEOPLE.

So weird and quirky that you'll laugh until you cry... then you'll puke. :) Monkey is one of those films that you love or you hate. I love it and I make everyone I know watch repeatedly (and in turn they hate me for it). It's brilliant humor!

A boring, meaningless, self indulgent piece of tripe. Nothing's worse than a movie that thinks it is amusing and most certainly is not. Don't be misled by the promising cast--the actors here just prove that actors are nothing without a good script. And one thing this movie lacks is a good script. Stay far, far away from this waste of celluloid.

Which explains a lot of the votes of "1"... Lou Pearlman (boyband daddy)executive produced and is in the first scene of this, one of my fave "bad" movies... it's not really bad but it is "out there." And star Steve Antin, who wrote and produced it, is very cute. The ensemble cast (check out the fire power) gamely gives their all and, like I said, you either go along for the ride or you don't. I did... and I still do every few months.

In the beginning one does not know what to think of this movie. It's the story of a man and his quest for well, you could say love, happiness, possibly just contentment and a career. His family is quite insane, although very intriguing. You slowly start to understand exactly where Monkey is coming from. Many great performances (Debi Mazar, Sandra Bernhard, Martha Plimpton) keep the movie flowing. The sense of humor in this film comes from conflicts with family and friends. By the unpredictable end your wondering why it's ending so quickly. I became absorbed by it, wanting to know more about the future of Monkey Zetterland.