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Ape: the movie
(Listen to the Monkey Sound)
Written, Produced & Directed by
Matt Sweetman
Starring Ed Green, Dave Atherall, Cameron Cooke
Featuring Phil Miles, Jon Lyndon, Adam Jarvis, Steve
Horne, Mike Cooper, Andy Back, Helen Davies, Laura Muzzall &
Richard
Miles
Momentary glimpses of Tree63, Paul Oakley, Terry Virgo,
Louise Fellingham
- £5
 Marvellous footage of Benny-Hill-style fighting, with special effects,
superb sounds, extreme aggression and cartoon violence.
There’s a thin story about getting to play in a competition, but
the journey is wonderful. Outtakes at the end of the movie reveal that
Ed did dip his banana into real mustard, (ow) and that Cameron Cooke’s
acting really is complex.
Episodic and uneven, the best scenes are the ones which feel more scripted
than some of the cameo appearances. Jarvis’ music guru is very seventies
but believable, and the times when the band play are well-shot and edited.
Owing a massive debt to Wayne’s World 2, this movie is
mercifully short. The original premiered version contained no extra scenes
but was apparently 30 minutes longer (the fights are still very long so
they must have been extreme).
My own appearance is lifted directly from The Commitments
and grafted onto The Blues Brothers, and is happily brief. Steve
Horne wins the face-pulling contest, and full marks to Phil in the monkey
suit, who receives several beatings.
There’s a lightness of touch about the credits and the out-takes
and the ability to produce copies for a fiver is amazing.
Question: why so few females in this movie? Admittedly, the girls who
do appear are lovely and gifted (one of them is the spitting-image of
the delightful Helen Baxendale out of Friends, which is a good
start). But come on, boys, women can go ape, too!
See www.apethemovie.com
and download the ape album from the stuff page on the youth alive website
www.youth-alive.com.
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