Monkey Trouble

Jeff’s take

This is one of those movies that appears to be lighthearted at first glance. There is a seemingly innocent girl who adopts a pet monkey who helps her regain confidence. I chose this movie thinking that it would be a nice change as opposed to the movies I'm used to watching with a lot of violence ETC. For the most part, this movie did not disappoint as it did present that type of lighthearted family friendly vibe that would be expected from anyone who comes across it for the first time. Having said that, this movie is not completely without its faults and unfortunately, those faults will significantly drop the rating from what I thought would be a perfect score just based on its premise. I know these are the types of movies that mom likes. Ones that depict a bond between a child and their pet as I know she appreciates animals. I was hoping to be able to recommend this movie to her so that she could watch it. Having said that, there are certain scenes that I felt had no business in a children's movie. First of all, the girl's overall attitude towards her infant brother was unacceptable. At one point, she insinuated that he should get hurt or even die just because her mother was spending more time with him. Second of all, I cannot accept the treatment given to that poor animal throughout this movie as he was abused and threatened by his previous owner by attempting to grab him and choke him, ETC. Also, towards the end of this film, he is screamed at by a boy. I don't want to say too much as I do not want to ruin the movie itself for those who haven't seen it. However, the biggest problem I had with this movie was when the young girl was grabbed by the arm and then the back of the neck by the monkey's previous owner. I cannot believe they would put that in a movie geared towards children much less one that had such a good vibe to it. I have to say that just this scene alone almost was enough for me to completely fail this movie, never mind about the rest of its faults. This movie went way too far with the villain by allowing him to do that. Having said that, I cannot fail this movie completely because of the monkey. He was so cute and innocent and I know that despite some of the scenes in this movie, mom would enjoy it just because of how cute the monkey is. I know I did. He was the main focus of the film. In other words, the monkey saved this film from failing completely. Having said that, it was far from perfect. It was not what I was expecting. It was much worse. I would go as far as to say that if it wasn't for that furry cute little animal, this movie would have totally failed. My inability to resist some animals has forced me to boost this rating. I sure hope the next movie I review is much better than this one. To use the pun, the monkey in this movie was not monkeying around with this review and neither am I. I have to give credit where it is due. The monkey made this movie. That's all there is to it.

Jeff O meter final score: 5 out of 10.

What works

• The monkey — cute, innocent, and the main focus of the film.
• A lighthearted, family friendly vibe for most of the runtime.

What to know before watching

• Some scenes may be unsuitable for young children.
• Scenes depicting animal cruelty, and one scene that depicts child abuse.
• Mild coarse language, toilet humor, minor violence, panhandling, shoplifting, and gun violence.