The Ape

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.

This movies wasn't half bad. I only bought this movie because it was his debut as a writer and a director. So the directing was pretty good, i can see a bit of Epstein talent in him but he needs to work on the cinematography, the camera stood at one angle for too long at times.

Now on to the writing part...OK ummm it was not as good. His story seemed to lack passion in it. The movie started off pretty watchable, a bit cliché at times, but still promising. Then it started to be less and less interesting towards the intimate scene with the boss (not a spoiler, it was all in the trailer). I don't know, i felt James lost interest in writing the story or he had a deadline to meet that he felt pressured to just get it over with. It just had a boring clichéd plot, and it wasn't even a good rendition of movies very similar to it. I felt James was trying to write plots in the styles of Bret Easton Ellis (American Psycho) but failed to succeed. There was many plot holes and a lot of questions left, but hey! Ellis' books end with cliff hangers as well. I guess Columbia or wherever he went dried up any writing talent he had. Exactly why you shouldn't study something you love, teachers just suck your talent dry (sorry off topic).

Now the acting! The whole tiny cast were really really good actors and actresses, I was very impressed! Im surprised that most of them were usual extras prior to this movie. The acting was just real! Bravo to them! James, obviously a real good actor, but there was something different about him in this film. It was as if he wasn't acting (yes i know thats what good acting is all about), it was like the character was based on the real him, so he didn't really try hard to get into character (or so i think). The only bad thing about the acting is the tension-filling scenes, they were just too choreographed. I mean watching spider man and seeing how good James is at emotional-filled scenes, this movie just did not prove that.

Now the comedic part of the film. Real funny at times, gorilla man was adorable and funny, really amazing comedic skills. James gets into a more physical comedic role, he shows us a new side to his capability at a slapstick comedy. Bravo! The movie was funny in my opinion but some people would strongly disagree because it was just too jaded. It depends on what type of comedies are funny to you. If you like the sort of "oh I just laughed because some guy fell" kinds of comedy, this movie is for you. If you like British style comedies, meh... But overall, real funny stuff! Finally, this need an honorable mention and I'm sure it has been mentioned in previous reviews- THE MUSIC! Who the heck is this musical wizard? Amazing music, not because its in the ranks of Braveheart or Gladiator soundtracks but because only a person who is that talented can make a catchy tune with like only three notes!(think Jaws theme, that won an Oscar :S)Great music, if there is a soundtrack coming out, ill will be surely buying it! Overall, i give it a 6.5 out of 10. Acting was flawless somewhat, comedy was good, music was just amazing, directing wasn't so bad but there is promise. The only problem was the story, the dialogue, the plot, just anything written! James really needs to fix up his story telling skills, the basis of the story seemed to be a good one, it just needed a lot of tweaking from an experienced superior. James should continue to direct and act, but work a bit on his writing.

Btw, sorry if there are any mistakes in my English, I'm Arab so it isn't my first language. OK well I'm off the study the human body.

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.

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.

A comic gem, tongue-in-cheek, dark, humorously constructed. I don't even like James Franco but this film changes everything. He's high in half of the scenes (you think I'm kidding? he is literally stoned in at least 2 i distinctly remember...you know red swollen eyes and all that) not every movie is the Godfather, not every movie needs to be. not every comedy needs to be Annie Hall, i'd watch this 1000 times before i'd ever watch Date Movie, Scary Movie, Epic Movie, Buddy Comedy Movie, Adventure Movie, Porn Spoof Movie, any of those Wayans brothers or Rob Schneider or David Spade vehicles...it's legitimately hilarious and it doesn't retard its audience (okay so there is a feces-throwing scene, but it's about an ape, that's inevitable) also the whole thing with him being an "ARTISTE!" it's brilliant...James Franco: A+ friend Bravo.