2008 Woodie Awards
St. Louis Filmmaker's piece doesn't quite make sense
SLIFF Preview: 'The Naked Ape,' 2.5 of 5 stars
By: Anthony Barsanti
Issue date: 11/9/06 Section: LifeStyle
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Only time will truly tell if the homegrown Daniel Mellitz's debut feature "The Naked Ape" garners enough praise to put the Gateway City on the map again, but in the short term, we can look to the opinions of the St. Louis International Film Festival goers when the film plays at 8 p.m. Nov. 15 in the Winifred Moore Auditorium as part of the renowned festival.
The protagonist Alex (Josh Wise) is a reserved, yet rather impulsive young man, leaving his old life behind in St. Louis - unbeknownst to his father - with his two troublemaker friends for the West Coast. On their way, they meet Susie (Chelse Swain) and Kristie (Amanda MacDonald), another unlikely pairing of friends who are both searching for an excuse to leave their miserable lives in small-town New Mexico.
A typical story of teenage insecurities and overzealous ambitions, the film is also narrated by the voice of zoologist Desmond Morris (played by Michael Jackson), author of the book with the same title that observed the human animal through the scope of zoology.
This strange appendage to the action on-screen is at once a blessing and a distraction.
In one scene, Alex gets rough with his friend James (Sean Shanks) and has a chance to stand up to him after being pushed around all the time, but the moment passes. All the while, Morris' enlightening dictation tells of how an alpha male sometimes faces opposition from a lesser member of the pack, with adrenaline pumping through their veins, but in the case of the naked ape, a possible deathly quarrel is averted due to such cerebral concerns as morality.
While a rather amusing original device for attempting to evaluate the human condition in film, it doesn't resonate anything worthwhile. Toward the middle of the film, the leader of the pack allows his secret plans to ditch St. Louis altogether and get a job in Los Angeles to beknown to his compatriots.
Warning. We've just lost all sense of reality and believability. Recommended action: reverse course and exit theater at once.
What doesn't make sense to me about this film is why we are supposed to care about what happens to these characters because they so misrepresent the true nature of teenage maladjustment and human development. In a way, the lackluster plotline puts to shame the unique works of Morris, who wrote several more books on the connection between Homo sapiens and the animal kingdom.
St. Louisans may eternally be looking for greater attention from the film world, but is homegrown visual effects extraordinaire-turned filmmaker Daniel Mellitz the guise through which this kind of exposure is warranted?
The protagonist Alex (Josh Wise) is a reserved, yet rather impulsive young man, leaving his old life behind in St. Louis - unbeknownst to his father - with his two troublemaker friends for the West Coast. On their way, they meet Susie (Chelse Swain) and Kristie (Amanda MacDonald), another unlikely pairing of friends who are both searching for an excuse to leave their miserable lives in small-town New Mexico.
A typical story of teenage insecurities and overzealous ambitions, the film is also narrated by the voice of zoologist Desmond Morris (played by Michael Jackson), author of the book with the same title that observed the human animal through the scope of zoology.
This strange appendage to the action on-screen is at once a blessing and a distraction.
In one scene, Alex gets rough with his friend James (Sean Shanks) and has a chance to stand up to him after being pushed around all the time, but the moment passes. All the while, Morris' enlightening dictation tells of how an alpha male sometimes faces opposition from a lesser member of the pack, with adrenaline pumping through their veins, but in the case of the naked ape, a possible deathly quarrel is averted due to such cerebral concerns as morality.
While a rather amusing original device for attempting to evaluate the human condition in film, it doesn't resonate anything worthwhile. Toward the middle of the film, the leader of the pack allows his secret plans to ditch St. Louis altogether and get a job in Los Angeles to beknown to his compatriots.
Warning. We've just lost all sense of reality and believability. Recommended action: reverse course and exit theater at once.
What doesn't make sense to me about this film is why we are supposed to care about what happens to these characters because they so misrepresent the true nature of teenage maladjustment and human development. In a way, the lackluster plotline puts to shame the unique works of Morris, who wrote several more books on the connection between Homo sapiens and the animal kingdom.
St. Louisans may eternally be looking for greater attention from the film world, but is homegrown visual effects extraordinaire-turned filmmaker Daniel Mellitz the guise through which this kind of exposure is warranted?
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