GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE (Disney) Starring: Brendan Fraser, Leslie Mann, Thomas Haden Church, Holland Taylor, Greg Cruttwell, Abraham Benrubi, voice of John Cleese. Screenplay: Dana Olsen and Audrey Wells, based on the characters created by Jay Ward. Producers: David Hoberman, Jordan Kerner and Jon Avnet. Director: Sam Weisman. MPAA Rating: PG (mild profanity, scatalogical humor) Running Time: 92 minutes. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.
GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE suffers from a fundamental, insurmountable split personality: it wants both to be a big, dumb comedy for 8-year-olds and to make fun of the fact that it is a big, dumb comedy for 8-year-olds. The former is fairly easy, particularly for Disney, whose recent contributions like JUNGLE2JUNGLE and D(whatever integer the MIGHTY DUCKS series is up to lately) make you wonder why they don't just spin off a live-action banner called Big Dumb Comedies for 8-Year-Olds Pictures. The latter, however, requires subtlety...finesse..a keen sense of how far is just far enough.
Now that you have lifted yourself off the floor from convulsions of laughter, I'll confirm your suspicions that GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE does not represent the Platonic form of subtlety, finesse, or a keen sense of how far is just far enough. The adventures of inept jungle king George (Brendan Fraser), including his romance with dizzy heiress Ursula Stanhope (Leslie Mann) and his rescue of his friend Ape the talking ape (voice of John Cleese) from poachers Max (Greg Cruttwell) and Thor (Abraham Benrubi), are the stuff of which most youth-oriented films in the 90s are made. There are some moderately diverting special effects, including a tree-trunk-fetching elephant named Shep (computer-generated courtesy Dream Quest Images). There are pratfalls and comic brawls a-plenty. And there are at least 475 separate gags involving either a) flatulence, b) excrement, c) urine or d) injuries or the threat of injury to the male gonads.
All of which works just fine on its own level, except that screenwriters Dana Olsen and Audrey Wells then feel obliged to get meta-conscious on us. Most films of this stripe would be perfectly comfortable simply serving up a scene where a nasty character like Ursula's erstwhile fiance Lyle Van de Groot (Thomas Haden Church) falls face first into a steaming elephant pile. This one has a native guide observe: "Villain falls into pile of poop...a classic element of physical comedy!" It's tough to take a film seriously as a wry commentary on its own excesses, especially when those excesses are the main reason the majority of the audience is watching.
GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE's attempts at something resembling sophistication and wit, half-hearted though they may be, are clearly an attempt to capture the spirit of the animated namesake created by Jay Ward (of "Rocky and Bullwinkle" fame). They also demonstrate a radical misunderstanding of what was amusing about Ward's efforts. Like "Rocky and Bullwinkle," "George of the Jungle" was smart satire rich with exaggerated word-play. It also featured a lunk-headed hero played completely straight, a far jungle cry from the sensitive noble savage served up by Brendan Fraser. Fraser is appealing in a goofy-naive way, but he's a classic Disney-fication: they've taken a mockery of heroes and turned him into a hero. There's nothing to connect this GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE to Jay Ward's "George of the Jungle" except the theme song, which is probably the one thing most people will remember about the animated series. Those who remember more may be hoping for more than this predictable kiddie matinee posing as savvy family entertainment.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 -- ooh! -- trees: 4.
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