The Ape (2005) Reviews

• Horribly Horrible.

  m_strupeck2007-11-21

  What I expected of this after seeing the trailer, I'm not sure. I guess I was hoping that James Franco would somehow have created a movie with a purpose. I thought, at worse, this movie would be so bad, it would be good. But this movie was so bad it 360'd back to bad. Why? Well, in most movies there's a suspension of disbelief, a relation to a character that makes you feel something, and a plot. This movie has maybe 1 of those 3. I really tried to get myself to believe that the character Harry was seriously living with an ape, but for many many reasons (one being that in 50% of the shots you could see straight through the ape mask) I was struck with the notion that James Franco just didn't know he was even in this movie. I'm pretty sure there were only 2 enjoyable moments in this movie. One was because I can't remember being able to use the phrase "apesh*t" and mean it in the most literal sense. The second was when the film inspired my friend to say "He literally **bleeped** Dostoevsky in the face". In the end, there was no "a-ha" moment that made me realize all the inaneness was worth it. But because this movie inspired me to bake both banana cookies and banana bread, I will give it three stars.

• I found it an amusing and often succinct story although not suited to all tastes

  daydreamer12006-03-13

  I've just had the opportunity to view this movie and on the whole enjoyed it. I have been an avid reader of Dostoevsky for many years but possibly missed the point of the frequent references, was there a particular story that this was based around. Dostoevsky wrote a lot of his work purely to make money and often had to drag the stories out. One of the greatest works I have ever read is 'Crime and Punishment' but very obviously drawn out to produce more entries in the serialised newspaper edition and thus more payments for the author. Back to the movie though I have to say that I laughed out loud on a number of occasions and could see some elements of my own life too, reflected to some extent anyway, in the circumstances of the main character. Summing up I found it an amusing and often succinct story although not suited to all tastes.

• Did Hal Warren possess James Franco?

  oaattiya2012-10-19

  Okay, a movie for James Franco, also directed and written by Franco. It's about a working man who dreams to be a writer, so he rents an apartment to write his novel in peace, only to find that the apartment is occupied by a big foul-mouthed gorilla. The presentation itself is good, interesting idea. However, through an hour and a half, all I gained from watching it is time wasting. It seemed that the film was done by amateurs; bad shooting, bad story, dialog is done poorly, and most of all bad acting, in fact Mr. Franco adds to the agony in this film by being a bad actor himself. What chance did that film had to make it? By what it has now, none. Its only chance if it was done in different time (like in the forties and fifties, with remodeled storyline of course), or a cartoon film with family oriented dialog. For me, zero stars are more like it, but I gave it two because the only thing that helped me through is that I managed to turn on my childish imagination and imagine that the ape is real.

• Oddly Funny – original indie flick

  ardentayu2008-03-03

  This is a pretty funny movie. James Franco is quite a comedian, which you wouldn't know from seeing some of his darker, brooding roles. Go into it keeping in mind it is a dark comedy, mostly conversational piece, indie, odd story. Harry (Franco) rents an apartment so he can get a break from his distracting family life and finally put pen to paper. The big catch is that a gorilla is already living at the apartment. The gorilla is an actor in a suit, not a real live gorilla, which I guess I would've realized was the case if I'd looked more closely at the cover art. At first I was disappointed, because I expected there would be a real monkey in the movie. I quickly got over that because the actor in the gorilla suit was quite funny and crude. It does get a bit repetitive and there are very few locations, so I did begin getting bored mid-way through after my initial reaction to the uniqueness of the story began to wear off. I imagine it was a hilarious stage play (which it was adapted from), but I do think it probably loses some of its charm in translation to the screen. I believe it was a one-act play, so they had to "pad" the story a bit to make it long enough to be a movie. It probably would be strongest in one-act length (45 minutes or so). Overall, it is unique and I laughed out loud many times. You can watch it and analyze some "deeper" meaning because there are definitely layers of metaphor throughout the story…or you can just watch it and laugh.

• An Amazing Film

  PLKing1986-12005-10-21

  I just recently saw The Ape in Austin, and I absolutely loved it. To any who might doubt James Franco's ability behind the camera, this film will completely change you perspective. It was expertly filmed. The use of music to create almost a dance with the camera takes was wonderfully done each time. Perhaps my favorite part of this movie, however, is the actual script. Written by Franco himself, as well as Merriwether Williams, the writer of Sponge Bob Squarepants, it was originally a play, but it transferred well to the screen. Labeled a comedy/drama, each scene, no matter the situation, seems realistic and understandable. It is difficult to create a film that can make you both laugh while feeling complete pity, but this one does it effortlessly. Naturally, Franco's portrayal of the down and confused Harry is nothing short of awesome. The ending was a bit predictable, but this takes little from the impressiveness of the film. I give it a 9.