Oh Monkeybone. One of those films you don’t remember exists and then suddenly someone will mention it out of the blue and you’re like “that was a thing”. I did not pay money in theaters for this one, BUT I did watch it on HBO because I was in high school, had a huge crush on Brendan Fraser, and was excited that someone let Henry Selick (of Nightmare Before Christmas) direct a movie again. Also, I recall the trailer had music by The Offspring. Teenage me could not resist The Offspring.
I’m going to keep this one short so I don’t have to hear a lot of trolls hating on the Fraser or this film. This isn’t a critique. It’s just be pointing out how the movie portrays writing and our old friend Edgar Allan Poe (played by Edgar Allan Poe VI - the same actor from that episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch).
I’m not going to sum up the entire plot, but I will tell you that besides Edgar Allan Poe being present, the story is about a Stu (Fraser). Stu is a cartoonist trapped in a version of his own creation while in a coma. At the same time, his popular character, Monkeybone, has taken control of his body and given it a gross soul patch. The world Stu’s mind exists in also deals in how nightmares and trauma spark creativity, something he learned from his girlfriend played by Bridget Fonda (where has Bridget Fonda been lately? Did she retire or what?)
Stu ends up in a prison cell with “nightmare makers” Attila the Hun, Jack the Ripper, Lizzie Borden, Stephen King (played by himself) and Poe. That’s right. Known killers and few writers. I’m not sure what this film is trying to say exactly, but I would like to add that if I die suddenly, could someone please clear my browser history. King is called a nasty name for a wuss by Poe when he asks for a nightlight.
The other part of this has to do with success as an artist, taking the “selling out” with the positives, and accepting that even some of the worst characters we create are a part of us.
