Ed (1996)

Director:

Bill Couturié

Writers (WGA):

Ken Richards (story) and
Janus Cercone (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

15 March 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Sport

Tagline:

Minor league. Major friendship.

Plot Keywords:

Chimpanzee | Critically Bashed | Monkey | Baseball | Sports Team

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Matt LeBlanc	...	Jack 'Deuce' Cooper
Gene Ross	...	Red
Paul Hewitt	...	Bucky
Sage Allen	...	Cooper's Mother
Stan Ivar	...	Cooper's Father
Jim O'Heir	...	Art
Rick Johnson	...	Kurt 'Crush' Bunyon
Valente Rodriguez	...	Jesus Rodriquez
Jack Warden	...	Chubb
Bill Cobbs	...	Tipton
Leonard Kelly-Young	...	Customer (Joe)
Jayne Brook	...	Lydia
Patrick Kerr	...	Kirby
Jim Caviezel	...	Dizzy Anderson
Troy Evans	...	Bus Driver
Jay Caputo	...	Ed Sullivan
Denise Cheshire	...	Ed Sullivan
Curt Kaplan	...	Randall 'Zonk' Cszonka
Charlie Schlatter	...	Buddy
Carl Anthony Payne II	...	Stats Jefferson
Zack Ward	...	Dusty Richards (as Zacharias Ward)
Michael McGlone	...	Oliver Barnett (as Mike McGlone)
Doren Fein	...	Liz
Richard Gant	...	Umpire, Sharks game
Bill Capizzi	...	Farley
Steve Eastin	...	Shark's Manager
K.C. Corkery	...	Little Boy-Banana Toss
Jaquita Ta'le	...	Little Girl (as Jaquita Green)
Philip Bruns	...	Clarence
Kenneth Zavayna	...	Peanut Man (as Ken Zavayna)
Kevin Kraft	...	Shortstop
Brad Hunt	...	Carnie
Mark Casella	...	Security Guard
Joe Bucaro III	...	Goon #1
Noon Orsatti	...	Goon #2
John-Clay Scott	...	Banana Truck Driver
Jessica Pennington	...	Nurse Rosa Cays
Tommy Lasorda	...	Himself
Mitch Ryan	...	Abe Woods (as Mitchell Ryan)
Macka Foley	...	Umpire, Championship Game
Michael Chieffo	...	Dr. Joseph Middleton
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Richard Atchley	...	Baseball Fan (uncredited)
Ellsworth Hanna	...	Man Purchasing Ticket (uncredited)
Jeanne Hanna	...	Ticket Booth Lady (uncredited)
Helen Kelly	...	Woman in Ballpark (uncredited)

Directed by
Bill Couturié

Writing credits (WGA)
Ken Richards		(story) and
Janus Cercone		(story)
David M. Evans		(screenplay)

Produced by
Bill Couturié	....	executive producer
Brad Epstein	....	executive producer
Bill Finnegan	....	executive producer
Rosalie Swedlin	....	producer

Original Music by
Stephen Endelman

Cinematography by
Alan Caso

Film Editing by
Robert K. Lambert
Todd E. Miller

Casting by
Joseph Middleton
Shari Rhodes

Production Design by
Curtis A. Schnell

Art Direction by
Michael L. Fox

Set Decoration by
Crista Schneider

Costume Design by
Robin Lewis-West

Makeup Department
Dee Dee Altamura	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Robert Grasmere	....	second unit director
Bill Shea	....	second second assistant director

Art Department
Steven E. Eyrse	....	head painter
Steven E. Eyrse	....	head scenic artist
Daniel Hanna	....	assistant property master
Rodney Petreikis	....	set dresser
Danny Ronay	....	set painter
Alun Vick	....	construction coordinator
Neal W. Zoromski	....	property master

Sound Department
Mark Berger	....	supervising re-recording mixer
Jacob Goldstein	....	production sound mixer
Samuel Lehmer	....	sound re-recording mixer
Michael Mennies	....	sound effects editor
Jeremy Molod	....	foley recordist
Jonathan Null	....	assistant sound effects editor
Richard Quinn	....	dialogue editor
Brian Wittle	....	sound utility
Mark Jan Wlodarkiewicz	....	sound editor
Marilyn S. Zalkan	....	dialogue editor
Thomas Giordano	....	boom operator: reshoots (uncredited)
Dennis C. Salcedo	....	boom operator (uncredited)

Special Effects by
David Blitstein	....	special effects coordinator
Randy Cabral	....	special effects foreman
Tamara Carlson	....	fabricator: Animated Engineering
Jake Garber	....	animatronic effects
Miles Teves	....	animated engineering

Visual Effects by
Bill Dietrich	....	digital animation
Robert Grasmere	....	visual effects supervisor
Joe Henke	....	digital artist
Paul Taglianetti	....	visual effects coordinator

Stunts
Joe Bucaro III	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Stephen Carmona	....	assistant camera
Rory Robert Knepp	....	camera operator: "a" camera
Jim Marquette	....	assistant camera
Chava Monjaraz	....	key grip
Ray Patrick	....	remote camera technician
Jonathan 'Chunky' Richmond	....	second assistant camera
Michael J. Walker	....	additional first assistant camera (uncredited)

Animation Department
Joe Henke	....	animator

Editorial Department
Todd E. Miller	....	first assistant editor

Music Department
Lori L. Eschler	....	music editor
John Moses	....	musician (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Craig Lietzke	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Alex Barnoya	....	construction medic
Wes C. Caefer	....	crew
Roger Fouts	....	technical advisor
Kevin Halloran	....	location manager
Gary A. Hecker	....	voice
Mecki Heussen	....	puppeteer
Lance Mancuso	....	key medic
Dave Nelson	....	puppeteer
Don Orlando	....	production accountant
Timothy Ralston	....	puppeteer
Steve Savage	....	baseball advisor
Amanda Scarano	....	assistant production coordinator
Robert Schroer	....	production assistant
Robert Sharman	....	video coordinator
Bernadette Tanchauco	....	first assistant accountant
Norman Tempia	....	puppeteer

Production Companies

• Longview Entertainment
• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1996) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1999) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (video)

Other Companies

• Redman Movies and Stories  grip rentals
• Saul Zaentz Film Center  sound re-recording

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG for language, crude humor and brief mild violence

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

USA:PG (certificate #34310) | Iceland:L | Australia:G | Netherlands:6 | Singapore:PG | Finland:K-8 (video premiere) | UK:PG (video premiere)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Longview Entertainment

Trivia:

This movie's star, Matt LeBlanc, is best known for his role on the long running television series "Friends" (1994). LeBlanc appears on a "Friends" episode on a television in this film.

Quotes:

Jack "Duece" Cooper:I am going to spank that monkey!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Nostalgia Critic: Dunston Checks In (#5.9)" (2012)

The 3-Banana Scale

Despite persistent talk of Hollywood's "Golden Age of Cinema", movie-making did not truly reach its zenith until 1996. The movie was "Ed", not to be confused with the Whoopie Goldberg abortion of celluloid "Eddie", that premiered during that same year. In "Ed" award-winning documentary filmmaker Bill Couturie employs the technique of cinema verite that lets the camera capture a true slice of sporting Americana... a monkey playing minor league baseball.

"Ed" is not merely, as Brad Laidman of filmthreat.com raved, "[a movie] some would say that kids may like," but rather the examination of the symbiotic relationship between man and monkey. Despite their outward appearances, can a clear distinction really be made between the monkey Ed and his human counterpart, Matt LeBlanc? In the film, excel at baseball (although the monkey is the star), both delight in flatulence, and both have giant cartoon teeth. And wonderfully, when the film reaches it's glorious climax, it is the monkey that most clearly embodies our notions of humanity, imbibing LeBlanc with the confidence to again throw his curve-ball, the pitch that eventually paves his way into the Big Leagues (this is despite LeBlanc's supposed ability to throw a 125 mph fastball).

Although there may be some factual inaccuracies in the film (in a conversation with LeBlanc, a teammate tells him that Carlton Fisk was a flop in Boston, but went on to find greatness in Chicago), the true essence of "Ed" is in it's spirit... and in the fact that it has a monkey as it's star. Watching this film for the first time, I realized that I was examining the very embodiment of greatness. This being the case, "Ed" became the basis on which I would judge all future films. Forget Siskel and Ebert (especially Siskel) with their thumbs... forget Leonard Maltin with his stars... and forget A.O. Scott with his homosexual, liberal bias. The only scale worthy of film review is the Banana Scale.

Based on 3 bananas (because really, who needs five?) this scale cuts through all the other ridiculous criteria such as plot, character development, acting and direction commonly used by other critics in their evaluations, and judges movies based on three essential elements. These elements are:

1. Does the movie contain a character from "Friends"?

2. Does the movie contain a monkey?

3. Is the movie about baseball?

As you probably realize, there is only one film in history that contains all these elements, and, therefore, it is the greatest movie ever made. "Citizen Kane" by comparison, the film often mislabeled as the greatest, contains none of the essential elements of greatness. Therefore, it is hardly worth mentioning. But a movie such as "M.V.P.: Most Valuable Primate", centers it's story around a chimpanzee that plays for a youth hockey team. This is one of those interesting films that strives for greatness, but lacks certain characteristics that would've put it over the top. One may ask what director Robert Vince was thinking when he cast Rick Ducommun in the role of Coach Marlow when he could certainly have had David Schwimmer. And instead of hockey, why not youth baseball? But decisions such as these have presented film buffs with interesting fodder for years, wondering what could have been if, say, O.J. Simpson had in fact played the title role in "The Terminator", or if instead of Leonardo DiCaprio, director James Cameron had cast Dustin Diamond, as he originally planned? But judging on it's finished product, "MVP" receives 1 1/2 bananas... one for containing a monkey, and 1/2 for being about a sport other than baseball. Not bad, judging against the current, deplorable standards of Hollywood.

Based on it's greatness, it comes as a surprise to most that an "Ed" sequel has never been attempted. I have always assumed that the movie has become a victim of it's own greatness. Much like Roberto Clemente, who walked away during the apex of his career, knowing that he had reached a level of greatness that would doom his future endeavors to failure in the public eye by comparison, "Ed" director Bill Couturie knows that another installment would be severely overshadowed by it's predecessor. But taking matters into my own hands, I penned a letter to Mr. Couturie, outlining my ideas for a suitable sequel. The idea goes like this:

Both LeBlanc's character and Ed the monkey are playing in the major leagues... one for a team in the National league, the other for a team in the American. By coincidence, the two teams meet in the World Series. Although LeBlanc is now recognized as one of the greatest pitchers of all time, he is no match for the hitting prowess of Ed the monkey. And when they square of, mano-e-monkeyo, Ed the monkey is forced to make a decision whether to allow his friend LeBlanc to strike him out, or propel his team to victory by hitting a home-run, which he can do at will. I argue that this will be the first film that allows it's viewers to really get inside the mind of the monkey... to see his thought process, to witness what makes the monkey tick. By the time the last pitch is thrown, there won't be a dry eye in the house... and those tears will be both tears of laughter and tears of empathy... a rare combination.

Although I haven't heard back from Couturie as of yet, I expect a response before too long. Ideas like this don't come around everyday. If not Couturie, I imagine a Hollywood heavyweight director will jump on board.

From what I understand, Kubrick was considering optioning my treatment before his untimely passing. Although the idea was intriguing, I thought that perhaps Kubrick would understate the levity in a project such as this... opting for lingering shots, subtle dialog, and a brooding score by Beethoven, instead of the sped up action scenes, screaming monkey dialog, and circus music score that I believe the film "Ed II: Monkey in the Majors" calls for.