ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 16, 1996 TAG: 9603190023
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHERINE REED STAFF WRITER
It would be an insult to canines everywhere to call the movie "Ed" a dog.
And it would be an insult to primates to suggest that it's a movie about a chimpanzee.
However, it would not be an insult to call the "minds" behind it pathetically empty or, at best, cheap, cheap, cheap - with apologies to baby chickens.
As for Matt Le Blanc of "Friends" (ecccchhhh!) fame, may his film career never recover.
He plays Jack Cooper, a talented pitcher on a losing streak, who is forced to take in as a roommate the Santa Rosa Rockets' new mascot - a chimpanzee named Ed. The big yuk here is that Ed is more refined than Jack and probably a better ball player; after all, he is the former "pet" of Mickey Mantle.
Even if he could talk, Ed, no doubt, wouldn't refer to the "pencil in the pants" of a teammate. Or make jokes about "spanking the monkey." Especially not in front of a bunch of kids, this film's intended audience.
That's what makes this stupid movie so detestable. Somewhere along the line, a complete idiot utterly lacking in taste and ethics decided that a) kids LOVE to be talked down to; b) no children's movie is complete without a full array of potty jokes; and c) adults who take their kids to the movies will appreciate a few dirty in-jokes that surely only they can understand.
Was it director Bill Couturie, the award-winning producer of documentaries like "Common Threads: Stories From the Quilt" about the AIDS memorial? Or Rosalie Swedlin, who produced Spike Lee's "Clockers"?
Probably it was David Mickey Evans, the screenwriter, whose big hits include the Sinbad star vehicle "First Kid."
I don't want to talk about this anymore. "Ed" is a bad movie. Don't take your kids to it; it would be a waste of your money and their precious minds.
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Ed: BOMB
A Universal Pictures release showing at Salem Valley 8 and Valley View Mall 6. Rated PG for tastelessness.1 hour and 49 minutes.
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LENGTH: Short : 46 linesby CNB