Mookie (1998)

Far away from their native France, two men are in trouble in a Mexican town. One is a gentle missionary monk, Brother Benoît, the other is a tough stubborn boxer named Antoine Capella. ... See full summary »

Director:

Hervé Palud

Writers:

Igor Aptekman, Simon Michaël,

Stars:

Eric Cantona, Jacques Villeret, Emiliano Suarez

Cast

Credited cast:
Eric Cantona	...	Antoine Capella
Jacques Villeret	...	Frère Benoît
Emiliano Suarez	...	Valdez
Carla Ortiz	...	Fanfan
Harry Porter	...	Richardson
Valérie Bonneton	...	Soeur Rose
Magda Brueggemann	...	Soeur Montoya
Victor Sanchez Ramirez	...	Pablo
Miguel Ángel Fuentes	...	El Indio
Dominique Besnehard	...	Le patron du restaurant "Le Gai Paris"
Rocky Albert Nirschl
José Viller
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
José Aquilis
Ofelia D'Acosta
Michel Elias	...	Mookie (voice)

Storyline

Far away from their native France, two men are in trouble in a Mexican town. One is a gentle missionary monk, Brother Benoît, the other is a tough stubborn boxer named Antoine Capella. Brother Benoît has saved a chimp he calls Mookie and who has become his pet but the trouble is that it is a talking monkey, which is the reason why a groups of scientists want to take it away from him. As for Capella, he has refused to lose a rigged fight and now a gang of badmen are after him to punish him. When the two men are forced to leave the town, they decide to travel together to Mexico. The road will be long and eventful...

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Plot Keywords:

monkey | monk

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

9 December 1998 (France)

Filming Locations:

Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canal+, Hop-La Productions, Katharina

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

User Reviews

Formulaic

Formulaic comedy like a zillion others. Just think about it : two characters forced to cooperate whereas they have nothing in common, a gentle man living a lot of misadventures in the company of a rugged brute ( who happens not so bad after all), a chimp as comic relief...doesn't it remind you of something? If not, you must be six months old!

Well, let's forget the originality and analyze the comedy : agreed, two or three gags are mildly amusing but most of them are unfunny, especially when the chimp is concerned. Worse, much of the "humor" lies in scatology, which is unworthy of a director who had previously made "Un Indien dans la ville", a fairly good adventure comedy.

"Mookie" would be a total flop but for his two main actors : Jacques Villeret, who could have given humanity to a dummy if he had had to play one, and Eric Cantona, surprisingly at ease in the shoes of a brutish, uptight boxer. Also commendable are the exotic locations : entirely shot in Mexico, you can get over the nonsense of the whole thing just by looking at the natural settings. Last but not least is the excellent soundtrack, a vivid compilation of catchy Mexican popular music.

To put it in a nutshell, if Mookie is an offense to your brain it is not to your eyes and your ears.