Monkey Trouble

Last updated

Monkey Trouble
Monkey trouble.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Franco Amurri
Written byFranco Amurri
Stu Krieger
Produced byMimi Polk
Heidi Rufus Isaacs
Starring
Cinematography Luciano Tovoli
Edited by Ray Lovejoy
Music by Mark Mancina
Production
companies
Distributed by New Line Cinema
Release date
  • March 18, 1994 (1994-03-18)
Running time
96 minutes
CountriesUnited States
Japan
LanguageEnglish
Box office$16,453,258 [1]

Monkey Trouble is a 1994 American comedy film directed by Franco Amurri and starring Thora Birch and Harvey Keitel. Amurri dedicated the film to his daughter Eva and named the film's protagonist after her. [2]

Contents

Plot

In Los Angeles, nine-year-old Eva Gregory longs for a pet dog but can't get one because her mother Amy believes she isn't responsible enough and her stepfather Tom, a police lieutenant, is allergic to fur. This is further complicated when she cannot keep a pet at her biological father Peter's house, because of his job as a pilot and his frequent travels. Tom's biological daughter, Tessa, occasionally babysits Eva and her toddler brother Jack.

Romani kleptomaniac vagabond Azro lives off the grid with his intelligent Capuchin monkey Fingers. His wife and son Mark recently left him due to her dislike for Fingers. Working as a hurdy gurdy-playing busker at Venice Beach, Azro uses Fingers to lure in tourists and pickpocket them. A pair of Italian American mafia members named Drake and Charlie proposition Azro with joining their crime syndicate, with Fingers using his pickpocket skills to burglarize the homes of wealthy residents. In a test run to see Fingers' skills, the three men drive to a random residence, which just happens to be Eva's home. Fingers successfully steals various expensive items and Azro is admitted to the crime group. Fingers, who suffers from poor treatment from Azro (which is now greatly exacerbated by Azro's family's running off, causing the enraged Azro to acridly blame Fingers), later manages to run away and hides in a park near Eva's house.

The next day as Eva is walking home from school, Fingers drops from a tree and latches onto Eva. She instantly connects with him and names him "Dodger", as he likes Eva's Dodgers baseball hat. Eva hides the monkey in her bedroom, but when she has to attend school, she leaves him in the care of a pet store businesswoman named Annie. She becomes more responsible with her chores and helps take care of her brother Jack, to whom she reveals Dodger. Meanwhile, Tom finds himself sneezing frequently, and suspects he must have a cold or their apartment has a rat problem. Azro unsuccessfully tries to find the monkey, to the frustration of the mafia members.

On a weekend, which Eva is supposed to spend visiting Peter at his house, she learns that Peter will actually be out of town. Eva keeps this from her parents so that she can have his place to herself and Dodger for the weekend. Though she doesn't have a key to the house, Dodger is able to gain entry by climbing in an unlatched upstairs window. With no money for food, Eva decides to busk for earnings with Dodger at the Venice Beach Boardwalk. While Eva is riding her bike to the boardwalk, Dodger and Azro spot each other, and Dodger jumps off the bike, leading to a chase between him and Azro. Azro is taken away by the mafia members before he can capture the monkey. Dodger and Eva start their performance with the former secretly pickpocketing everybody just as he did when with Azro.

Eva starts noticing Dodger's pickpocketing when he steals items while hiding in her backpack at a grocery store. Realizing he was taught how to pickpocket and break into buildings, Eva trains him to quit stealing. Azro learns about the shoplifting incident at the grocery store, and a store manager gives him Peter's address. Just as Eva is preparing to return home and call a taxi, Azro unexpectedly arrives at the house, frightening both Eva and Dodger. The duo escape the house and manage to disconnect Azro's mobile home from his pickup truck, forcing him to abandon his pursuit of them when the loose trailer starts careening down the street by itself. The next day, Azro finds out that Dodger is being kept at Annie's pet shop and he successfully steals Dodger back. Azro is aghast when he discovers that the monkey won't steal anymore during a meeting with the mafia members.

Meanwhile, Amy and Tom, who have been dealing with reports of stolen jewelry in the neighborhood, discover more stolen property in Eva's room. They confront her about it and she tries to explain how her hidden monkey must've been responsible, but they don't believe her. Things get worse when Peter stops by and reveals that he had been in Canada all weekend, which exposes Eva's lie about her visit. Heartbroken at the disappearance of Dodger and the fact that no one believes her, Eva runs away to look for Dodger after her friend Katie calls and tells her she saw Dodger at a park. Meanwhile, Jack ends up saying his first word, "monkey", revealing to Amy, Peter, and Tom that there really is a monkey in the house and that Eva was telling the truth; Dodger had again managed to escape from Azro and returned to Eva's room without her knowledge.

At the park, Eva is accosted by a furious Azro, who kidnaps her to locate the monkey. Eva's family, along with Tom's fellow police officers, search for Eva and discover that Dodger has saved her after stealing Tom's police revolver, and has been occasionally firing a shot in Azro's direction to keep him at bay till the law arrives. Azro and the mafia mobsters are arrested in their attempt to escape. Mark tries taking Dodger back, but it's clear Dodger has become close to Eva. Eva proves to her mother that she is responsible and Tom reveals that he has overcome his fur allergy, having built up a resistance to it. As Dodger becomes the family pet, Eva brings him and Jack to school for a show and tell activity.

Cast

Soundtrack

The film contains the following songs. [3]

Reception

Box office

The film debuted at number 3 in the North American box office, [4] dropping to seventh place the following week. [5] [6] [7]

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, Monkey Trouble has a rating of 55% based on 11 critics' reviews. [8]

Roger Ebert awarded the film three stars, and though he said it has a formulaic plot, he called it a "splendid family film." [9] He added, "It's no mistake that the credits for 'Monkey Trouble' give top billing to the monkey, named Finster. He steals the show with a fetching performance that goes beyond 'training,' and into acting itself. And the show is a quirky, bright, PG-rated adventure that's as entertaining as ' Free Willy .'" [9] Ebert did criticize the film's decision to identify the villain character as a gypsy, reasoning Azro "could have had a non-specific background and the movie would have worked just as well, without giving its young audiences a lesson in prejudice." [9]

David Hunter of The Hollywood Reporter positively cited Thora Birch's performance and wrote "Rising to the occasion in just about every scene, she wonderfully executes the humor, wonder, excitement and brief troubles her character experiences in Franco Amurri and Stu Krieger's well-groomed screenplay." [10]

Positive reviews also cited the film for showing Harvey Keitel's "broad comic side." [11] Joanna Berry of the Radio Times wrote, "Quite what the hard-as-nails star of Reservoir Dogs and Bad Lieutenant is doing in this comedy adventure is anyone's guess, but his tongue-in-cheek performance will delight adults almost as much as the monkey business will enchant young children." [12] [13]

Year-end lists

Home media

New Line released Monkey Trouble on DVD on September 3, 2002. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thora Birch</span> American actress (born 1982)

Thora Birch is an American actress, producer, and director. She made her feature film debut in 1988 with a starring role in Purple People Eater, for which she received a Young Artist Award for "Best Actress Under Nine Years of Age". Birch rose to prominence as a child star during the 1990s through a string of parts in films such as Paradise (1991), Patriot Games (1992), Hocus Pocus (1993), Monkey Trouble (1994), Now and Then (1995), and Alaska (1996). Her breakthrough into adult-oriented roles came with her portrayal of Jane Burnham in American Beauty (1999), for which she was nominated for that year's BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress.

<i>Trouble in Paradise</i> (1932 film) 1932 film

Trouble in Paradise is a 1932 American pre-Code romantic comedy film directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis, and Herbert Marshall. Based on the 1931 play The Honest Finder by Hungarian playwright László Aladár, the lead characters are a gentleman thief and a lady pickpocket who join forces to con a beautiful woman who is the owner of a perfume company. In 1991, Trouble in Paradise was selected for preservation by the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

<i>Oliver!</i> English musical by Lionel Bart

Oliver! is a stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artful Dodger</span> Fictional character from the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist

Jack Dawkins, better known as the Artful Dodger, is a character in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel Oliver Twist. The Dodger is a pickpocket and his nickname refers to his skill and cunning in that occupation. In the novel, he is the leader of the gang of child criminals on the streets of London trained and overseen by the elderly Fagin. The term has become an idiom describing a person who engages in skillful deception.

<i>Oliver & Company</i> Disneys 1988 American animated musical feature film

Oliver & Company is a 1988 American animated musical adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released on November 18, 1988, by Walt Disney Pictures. It is loosely based on the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist. In the film, Oliver is a homeless kitten who joins a gang of dogs to survive in the streets. Among other changes, the setting of the film was relocated from 19th century London to 1980s New York City, Fagin's gang is made up of dogs, and Sykes is a loan shark.

<i>Cheaper by the Dozen</i> (2003 film) 2003 film by Shawn Levy

Cheaper by the Dozen is a 2003 American comedy film directed by Shawn Levy. It is a remake of the 1950 film of the same name. Both films were inspired by the semi-autobiographical book Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr. and his sister Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. It stars Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, Hilary Duff, Tom Welling, and Piper Perabo with supporting roles by Kevin G. Schmidt, Alyson Stoner, Jacob Smith, Forrest Landis, Liliana Mumy, Morgan York, Blake Woodruff, Brent and Shane Kinsman, Paula Marshall, and Alan Ruck. Outside of a passing mention of the Gilbreth name, the film has little connection with the original source material.

<i>Freddy Got Fingered</i> 2001 surreal black comedy film directed by Tom Green

Freddy Got Fingered is a 2001 surreal black comedy film directed by Tom Green in his feature film directorial debut and written by Green and Derek Harvie. Green stars in the film as a childish slacker who wishes to become a professional cartoonist while dealing with his abusive father's behavior. Its plot resembles Green's struggles as a young man trying to get his television series picked up, which would later become the MTV series The Tom Green Show. The title of the film refers to a plot point where Green's character falsely accuses his father of sexually abusing his brother, the eponymous Freddy.

<i>Pickup on South Street</i> 1953 film by Samuel Fuller

Pickup on South Street is a 1953 Cold War spy-themed film noir written and directed by Samuel Fuller, and released by 20th Century-Fox. In 2018, Pickup on South Street was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." The film stars Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, and Thelma Ritter. It was screened at the Venice Film Festival in 1953.

<i>Bad Lieutenant</i> 1992 crime-drama film directed by Abel Ferrara

Bad Lieutenant is a 1992 American neo-noir crime film directed by Abel Ferrara. The film stars Harvey Keitel as the title character "bad lieutenant" as well as Victor Argo and Paul Calderón. The screenplay was co-written by Ferrara with actress-model Zoë Lund, both of whom appear in the film in minor roles. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival.

<i>F/X</i> 1986 film by Robert Mandel

F/X is a 1986 American action thriller film directed by Robert Mandel, written by Gregory Fleeman and Robert T. Megginson, and starring Bryan Brown, Brian Dennehy, Diane Venora, Cliff De Young, and Angela Bassett in her film debut. The film follows a special effects expert who is hired by the U.S. Department of Justice to stage the murder of a mobster about to enter the Witness Protection Program, but complications arise when he is targeted for murder himself; meanwhile, an NYPD detective becomes suspicious of the circumstances of the case.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pet monkey</span> Monkey kept as a pet

A pet monkey is a monkey kept as a pet. The practice of keeping monkeys as pets is controversial.

<i>Oliver Twist</i> (2005 film) 2005 drama film directed by Roman Polanski

Oliver Twist is a 2005 drama film directed by Roman Polanski. The screenplay by Ronald Harwood adapts Charles Dickens's 1838 novel of the same name. It is an international co-production of the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic and France.

<i>Innocent Blood</i> (film) 1992 film by John Landis

Innocent Blood is a 1992 American black comedy horror film directed by John Landis and written by Michael Wolk. The film stars Anne Parillaud as a beautiful French vampire who finds herself pitted against a gang of mobsters led by Salvatore Macelli who eventually becomes a vampire and schemes to build a criminal syndicate of vampires.

<i>Monkey Shines</i> (film) 1988 film by George A. Romero

Monkey Shines is a 1988 American science fiction psychological horror film written and directed by George A. Romero and starring Jason Beghe, Kate McNeil, John Pankow, and Joyce Van Patten. Its plot follows a young athlete who becomes a paralyzed quadriplegic, and develops a bond with an intelligent service monkey named "Ella" who becomes homicidal after she is injected with an experimental serum of human brain tissue. It is based on the 1983 British novel of the same title by Michael Stewart.

<i>Dangerous Game</i> (1993 film) 1993 film by Abel Ferrara

Dangerous Game is a 1993 drama film directed by Abel Ferrara, written by Nicholas St. John, and starring Madonna, Harvey Keitel, and James Russo.

<i>Born to Be Wild</i> (1995 film) 1995 American film

Born to Be Wild is a 1995 American family comedy film released by Warner Bros. under their Warner Bros. Family Entertainment label.

<i>Corrina, Corrina</i> (film) 1994 American film directed by Jessie Nelson

Corrina, Corrina is a 1994 American comedy-drama film set in the Los Angeles suburbs of the 1950s about a widower who hires a housekeeper/nanny to care for his daughter. It was written and directed by Jessie Nelson, in her feature film directing debut. It was the final film in which Don Ameche starred; he died shortly after filming was completed.

Franco Amurri is an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter, best known for directing films such as Da grande, which inspired the Tom Hanks film Big, Monkey Trouble and Flashback.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crystal the Monkey</span> Capuchin monkey actor (born 1994)

Crystal is a female tufted capuchin monkey and animal actress, acquired and trained by Birds & Animals Unlimited, Hollywood's largest supplier of animals. Her acting career began as a baby monkey in Disney's 1997 film George of the Jungle. She has portrayed monkey Dexter in the Night at the Museum franchise, a drug-dealing monkey in The Hangover Part II, and pet monkey Bennie in Steven Spielberg's 2022 semi-autobiographical film The Fabelmans. In 2012, she played Dr. Rizzo on the sitcom Animal Practice.

References

  1. Monkey Trouble at Box Office Mojo
  2. Vancheri, Barbara (March 18, 1994). "Schlock the 'Monkey'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . p. 23. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  3. "Songs from Monkey Trouble". sweetsoundtrack.com. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  4. Cerone, Daniel (March 22, 1994). "Weekend Box Office : And the Winner Is . . . 'Naked Gun 33 1/3'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  5. Fox, David J. (March 28, 1994). "Oscar Winners Pick Up at the Box Office". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
  6. Fox, David J. (March 29, 1994). "Weekend Box Office : 'D2' Scores in Its Opening Weekend". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  7. Rainer, Peter (March 18, 1994). "MOVIE REVIEW : Monkey Shines in 'Trouble'". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  8. "Monkey Trouble". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  9. 1 2 3 Ebert, Roger (March 18, 1994). "Monkey Trouble". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  10. Hunter, David (March 18, 1994). "Cuddle up with this 'Monkey'". The Hollywood Reporter . p. 138. Retrieved October 4, 2022 via Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
  11. Baumgarten, Marjorie (March 25, 1994). "Monkey Trouble". The Austin Chronicle . Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  12. Berry, Joanna. "Monkey Trouble (1994)". Radio Times . Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  13. Maslin, Janet (March 18, 1994). "Movie Review - Monkey Trouble - Harvey Keitel in a Family Movie. Really". The New York Times . Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  14. Hurley, John (December 30, 1994). "Movie Industry Hit Highs and Lows in '94". Staten Island Advance. p. D11.
  15. Belerle, Aaron (September 9, 2002). "Monkey Trouble DVD Review". DVDtalk.com. Retrieved February 12, 2014.