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 Azro lives with his Capuchin monkey Fingers in Venice Beach, using them to lure tourists and pickpocket them. He is approached by Italian American mafia members Drake and Charlie, who propose joining their crime syndicate. Fingers uses his pickpocket skills to burglarize wealthy homes. In a test run, they steal expensive items from Eva's home, leading to Azro's admission to the crime group. Fingers suffers from poor treatment from Azro, which is exacerbated by Azro's family's run-off, leading him to blame Fingers. Fingers eventually runs 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. 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 that 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 finds out to her horror, when she sees the stolen goods in her backpack. She spends the rest of the weekend struggling to train Dodger to stop pickpocketing.
Azro learns about the incident and receives Peter's address. Azro arrives at Eva's house, frightening her and Dodger. Eva calls the police, but Azro informs the deputy that Eva dialed 9-1-1 as a joke. Eva arrives home safely, but Tom notices she's dropped a stolen jewerly item. He and Amy discover more stolen jewellery in Eva's room.
Azro manages to steal back Dodger, much to Eva's horror. She tries to explain what happened to her parents, but they don't believe her. Eva tries to look for Dodger in the park but meets Azro. Amy and Tom realize the truth, and Azro is arrested by Tom and other members of the police. Tom also manages to overcome his allergy to monkey fur. Eva meets Azro's son, Mark, who comes to get Dodger back and Dodger leaves with him, but changes his mind and goes back to Eva, and she later shows both him and Jack to her classmates at school.
Development on the film, initially titled Pet, began at Paramount Pictures in 1991 with Franco Amurri attached after having done Flashback for the studio.[3] The film came close to being greenlit twice at Paramount until the project went into Turnaround which led to it being picked up by producer Mimi Polk of Ridley Scott's Percy Main Productions.[3]
In May 1993, Pet was one of three active monkey/ape films announced to be in development along with Dunston Checks In (then known as Prime Mates) at 20th Century Fox and Ed (then known as You Should See Them Play) at Universal Pictures.[4]
The film debuted at number 3 in the North American box office,[6] dropping to seventh place the following week.[7][8][9]
Critical reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, Monkey Trouble has a rating of 55% based on 11 critics' reviews.[10]
Roger Ebert awarded the film three stars, and though he said it has a formulaic plot, he called it a "splendid family film."[11] 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.'"[11] 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."[11]
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."[12]
Positive reviews also cited the film for showing Harvey Keitel's "broad comic side."[13] 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."[14][15]
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