James Franco must have used some of his money from appearing in all the "Spider-Man" movies to produce this low-budget independent video film. Based on a stage play, that he wrote and performed in L.A., the film is a simple and obvious metaphor about the aspirations of a screenwriter.

Franco plays Harry, which at first seems odd since that is the name of his character in "Spider-Man." But the reason for this soon becomes obvious as Harry, the writer, moves out of the house he shares with his wife and child in order to become a writer. Harry soon finds his new austere apartment co-inhabited by an ape, a gorilla, who, we learn very quickly, is really an extension of Harry's own psyche, his more base and dark side. Hence the obvious and oh so clever name of Harry for his character.

The titular ape here is, of course, a man in a gorilla suit but Franco reacts to him and talks to him as if he were a real gorilla. This is about the extent of Franco's acting here in the film unless you want to count the other 80 minutes of the film where he sighs, yawns and looks so dour that we wonder if he has sucked a lemon before he, as director, has called action.

Harry also works in the Human Resources Department at the "phone company" and we get to see him be lackluster not only at home but at the office. It's pretty much a continuation of the lemon sucking style of acting.

The film is pretty obvious and trite as Harry continues to allow the womanizing, cigar smoking, constantly masturbating gorilla more and more influence in how he acts. There are even a couple of "homoerotic" moments between the two "males," albeit one of them being actually a male in a gorilla costume.

Franco's direction is nothing more than the typical extension of a stage play intercut with NYC street scenes to act as transitions. His one artistic idea here is to have a real chimp hold up various pieces of cardboard on which the title of the film and the cast and crew are written in sloppy red paint. This chimp returns between "Acts" and a Dostoyevsky quote is put up in text on the screen.

In this Man vs. Ape as metaphor for Man vs. Himself struggle plays out on the screen, we watch Harry lose his grip on his sanity and the film end on a rather obvious and bleak note. With the grim look on Franco's face throughout the film, we have been set up for just such a finale.

Notes:

With much music by Camille Saint-Saens.

Viewed during the Austin Film Festival at the AFF screening room set up in the Stephen F. Austin Hotel conference room in October 2005 with the filmmaker and his producer in attendance. The producer said, during a Q&A after the film, that the film would be out on DVD in April of 2006.

Report Card

Script: C-

Acting: C+

Cinematography\Lighting: A+

Special Effects\Make Up: C

Music: B+

Final Grade: C-