Intermission: 'Monkeybone' at best may be a cure for insomnia

"Monkeybone"

Directed by: Henry Selick

Starring: Brendan Fraser, Bridget Fonda

Rated: PG-13

It seems hard to believe, but it's been 13 years since Robert Zemeckis (in what is still his best effort as a director) mixed the world of animation and real life in the classic comedy "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" Other directors have used the same gimmick since, with varying degrees of success.

I really enjoyed the Italian comedy "Volere, Volare" in which a shy sound-effects editor literally turns into a cartoon character when he falls hopelessly in love. Veteran animator Ralph Bakshi did sort of the opposite when he had a cartoon character come to life in the form of Kim Basinger in the universally panned "Cool World."

And now comes the latest in the genre, "Monkeybone," the brainchild of Henry Selick, the director behind "The Nightmare Before Christmas," and "James and the Giant Peach."

Technically, Selick is in top form, the animation and live action combine seamlessly in "Monkeybone." The trouble lies with the story, it's just not engaging enough to hold the audience's attention for an hour and a half. To tell you the truth, I fell sound asleep the first time I tried to watch the film, went back with my wife the next day, and she promptly fell off to dreamland.

Like Gabriel Byrne's character in "Cool World," Brendan Fraser plays a cartoonist. Stu Miley has created a cartoon character named Monkeybone and is about to become a big hit. As seems to happen a lot to cartoonists, Stu is having trouble dealing with the proposition of his success. He freaks out at a party and leaves with his girlfriend, only to have an auto accident which places him in a coma.

While in this state, and with his sister negotiating with the hospital to "pull the plug," Stu travels to a place in his mind called Downtown. This is the place where people go who are about to die, or, like some of the luck ones, go back into their earthly bodies.

The main form of entertainment in Downtown is the watching of human beings' dreams. Stu is a big hit and well known here, his dreams being favorites of the citizens of Downtown. Whoopi Goldberg, who hasn't been in a decent film in a long, long time, plays a character named Death who seems to hold Stu's fate in her hands. Stu and Monkeybone negotiate with her for his return to consciousness, but there's a double cross in the works.

In the real world, doctors and Stu's girlfriend are trying to revive him. When they do, the cartoonist finds himself inhabited by his cartoon creation, Monkey-bone, who causes a great deal of trouble. A standard plot device, Monkeybone is indeed Stu's alter ego, the sum total of his repressed thoughts.

Fraser has a gift for physical comedy and uses it well here, if only there was a screenplay worthy of his efforts.

The scenes of Downtown are visually stunning, a cross between the cantina in "Star Wars" and the locale inhabited by "Beetlejuice," but set design does not a movie make.

"Roger Rabbit" is still the crowning achievement in this style of film making and for something a good step outside of the mainstream "Volere, Volare" is a brilliant piece of work. Both are infinitely more satisfying than "Monkeybone."

(Jim Wunderle works at Associated Video Producers and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician.)