George of the Jungle




It's easy to be outnumbered when you're a zero.

Disney plunders yet another IP, but as this demonstrates, it doesn't always have to turn out horribly.

Based on the TV show of the same name, George of the Jungle (Brendan Fraser) is a knock off of Tarzan, having been raised in the wilderness by animals, he spends the majority of his time swinging (and repeatedly crashing) from tree to tree. But his domain becomes violated by a group of slightly more civilized people. George immediately falls smitten with the sweet Ursula (Leslie Mann), but this causes some foreseeable problems for the King of the Jungle, not least of which being Ursula's snobby and downright nasty fiancé Lyle van de Groot (Thomas Haden Church).

While there's a smattering of the arch typical bodily functions jokes in George of the Jungle (it's a kids movie, right?), the great thing is that it's able to combine them with enough witty humor to satisfy everyone, kids and adults alike, while even throwing in a bonus by having some credible serious scenes. Granted, it's never exactly emotional fare, but Sam Weisman knows how to make a scene work, which is commendable given what there is to work with. It all works mostly because the movie has absolutely no qualms about being as unabashedly silly as the show, and it delights in poking fun at itself. A lot of it is made up of the recurring physical gags like George swinging into trees, the franchise's trademark, but it also has a lot more variety up its sleeves. Undoubtedly the best aspect of the movie is the snarky narrator, who often talks in sidesplitting prose and is often as candid about the movie's production as the story itself. At one point he even indulges in arguing with one of the bad guys. And it's funny.

The one lead that can't measure up to the others is ironically Brendan Fraser as George. Mostly it's because he's saddled with the bland part. That's not to say he isn't funny, which he is, and he is agonizing lovable as the buff jungle boy who's not too bright, but lucky. Pre-Sideways Thomas Haden Church has a ball at being exactly the opposite (unlovable that is), and he does a hilarious job of it. Likewise there's George's "brother" and mentor, a rather intelligent ape named Ape, who's more than aptly voiced by John Cleese. But it's Leslie Mann that sticks out, at least for this gnome. She's funny, but definitely not the funniest character; it's just that she's just so darn cute, and Leslie Mann does cute very nicely.

Sometimes these kinds of comedies are refreshing. Yeah, sometimes silly is nice.



-The Gnome