Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 19, 1994 TAG: 9403190064
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It's a well-paced animal adventure that's preachy at times and much too sappy at the end. But those are the criticisms of a grown-up. The target audience won't mind, and there's nothing on screen that their parents will find too objectionable.
Young Eva (Thora Birch) really really really wants a pet. But her step-dad, Tom (Christopher McDonald), is allergic to animal hair, and her mother (Mimi Rogers) knows that Eva is too irresponsible to take care of a dog or cat. But after a complex series of coincidences and plot gimmicks, Dodger, a capuchin monkey, drops into Eva's life.
This monkey has been trained to be a thief and pickpocket by the gypsy Azro (Harvey Keitel), and some bigtime mobsters want to use him for a more serious job. But Dodger gets fed up with Azro's abusive behavior. After scrawling a good-bye note, he runs away from home and is rescued by Eva.
That kind of goofy humor is almost enough to make "Monkey Trouble" palatable for older viewers. And Harvey Keitel is such an inspired comic villain that he's not upstaged by either Thora Birch or the monkey. He's sweaty, unkempt and scarey, but never too threatening for youngsters.
Writer-director Franco Amurri couldn't have put together a better cast. From the adults to toddlers Adrian and Julian Johnson who are Eva's baby brother Jack, the actors do fine work, never playing down to their audience. Though some of the action may be too complicated for the youngest moviegoers, the big scenes - particularly one long chase on Venice Beach - will have them glued to their seats.
I suspect, though, that not all audiences will be as captivated by the story as the filmmakers hope. The reason is the real star, Finster the monkey. He performs all of his preposterous tricks just fine, but in close-ups there's something off-putting about him. On a deep, atavistic level, viewer reaction will differ on this point. Some will see Finster as an adorable little cutie while others will find a spark of malevolence in that sharp-fanged face and chattering voice.
Perhaps a recent rewatching of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" with its treacherous little Nazi monkey has colored my reaction. In any case, it's unlikely that many children will see it the same way, and that's the real point. Grown-up opinions count for little here. "Monkey Trouble" is a crowd-pleaser for the elementary school set.
Monkey Trouble **
A New Line release playing at the Salem Valley 8. 95 min. Rated PG for a little strong language, bathroom humor.
by CNB