Review of Spanking the Monkey (1994) by Jake H — 14 May 2005

[i]Spanking the Monkey [/i]is a very interesting independent film. It has a subject matter that is very taboo and will make people disgusted, but it's execution is thoughtful, dark and engaging.

The movie is about Raymond Aibelli, a promising med student forced by his father to take care of his bedridden mother while he's on a business trip, making Ray miss his internship. With his mother Susan with a broken leg, she makes poor Ray do things like carry her to the shower, scrub her back, and bring her food. He tries maturbating in the bathroom when he has free time (this is where the title comes from), but his father's dog keeps interrupting him and having Ray take him on long walks. During these walks, he meets a girl named Toni, who his younger than him. He tries to have a relationship with her, but it ends up going sour in the end.

One night, while he and his mother are watching TV, they somehow get drunk and playful, and then...(SPOILER WARNING) Ray ends up having sex with his mother!

You think that with a story summary like this, you would think that it would be a perverted amatuer porn video. You would be wrong. This is probably in my opinion a very good movie about sexual confusion. It's also a good movie about child negletion. The main characters view each other as if they are in certain roles, like the father treating Ray like he's just a babysitter, The mother treating Ray like a servant, and Ray treating his mother like she's a thorn on his side.

People have labeled this movie as a comedy. They are half correct. There are parts that are funny, but they are few and far in between. It's mostly a drama about being trapped in a situation you don't want to be in. This movie was directed by David O. Russell, who would go on to make films like [i]Flirting with Disaster[/i], [i]Three Kings[/i], and [i]I[/i] [i]Heart Huckabees[/i], all of them good films, with energy and good pace. This film will definately make most people uncomfortable, which it did for me during the first hour, but in my opinion didn't go far enough to be shocking. Yes I know less is more, but it just wasn't shocking enough to raise questions about the subject manner, but [i]Spanking[/i] [i]the Monkey[/i] is worth checking out for it's engaging performances and decent story. Overall, This film is dark and thoughtfull, and a fitting feature debut for filmmaker David O. Russell.:up: