Funky Monkey (2004)

Boy genius Michael Dean (Adkins) teams up with a super-talented chimpanzee and his caretaker (Modine) to take down an animal testing lab. In exchange the scientist gives the boy some pointers on the girl of his dreams.

Director:

Harry Basil

Writers:

Lance Kinsey (story), Peter Nelson (story),

Stars:

Matthew Modine, Roma Downey, Seth Adkins

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matthew Modine	...	Alec McCall
Roma Downey	...	Megan
Seth Adkins	...	Michael
Alexandre Aubry	...	Clemens Impersonator
Jean-Luc Orofino	...	Clemens Action Impersonator
Pat Finn	...	Peters
Taylor Negron	...	Flick
Liliana Komorowska	...	Nun Cathrine
Kaleigh Krish	...	Christina
Gilbert Gottfried	...	Dr. Spleen
Jochen Nickel	...	Doctor
Fred Ward	...	Don Decker
Jeffrey Tambor	...	Crane
Luke Stratte-McClure	...	Brad
Justine Basil	...	Laura

Storyline

This amusing, darkly comic tale follows CIA agent Jack McCall and a chimpanzee that he attempts to liberate from a testing lab. Named Clemens, the chimp has been trained in martial arts combat, as part of a program designed to turn the creatures into fearsome fighting machines. Naturally this leads to plenty of slapstick moments between Modine and the chimp, especially when they seek refuge in the home of a boy and his mother as the owners of the lab hotfoot it after the escaped primate.

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Plot Keywords:

chimpanzee | boy | rhyme in title | two word title

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Taglines:

He's One High Tech Super Chimp.

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Genres:

Comedy | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some action violence, language and crude humor

Details

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 September 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hairy Tale

Filming Locations:

Balboa Park - 1549 El Prado, San Diego, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

ApolloMedia Distribution, Franchise Pictures, Kolin S.A.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie was originally shot in France. But when the studio did not like the results, they decided to re-shoot almost the entire movie in San Diego, California. Only a handful of minutes of the original movie shot in France made it to the final cut.

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Goofs

When Clements the chimp sprays Michael with the hose, a human hand is visible at the bottom of the screen steadying the sprayer.

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Connections

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

User Reviews

True Value

I bought this movie from Gamestop's discount used movie bin and the cover caused me to laugh uncontrollably so I bought it for 99cents. The movie itself is retarded and they use like ten different monkeys throughout the whole film that hardly look alike. Not to mention they use a stunt double who is just a short guy in costume making a desperate attempt to impersonate a monkey.

The director more than likely committed a murder-suicide with the chimpanzees after the movie debuted in a preview for some other low rent Warner Bros. film and he ended up owing money to the studio. It also doesn't help that he wasn't even infamous for the terrible job he did, he wasn't even known for producing a poop-chute film.

Why was this movie ever made?