Review of Spanking the Monkey (1994) by Jack G — 16 Aug 2013
A sick twisted fuck of a movie made by a man who, at the time at least, was probably a sick twisted fuck as well. You wanna know what this is? Here's a pitch: Young Charles Manson does his Mom. There.
Go see it. But be warned: this is billed as a 'comedy', and it is in the sense that I chuckled a couple of times. But the character interactions, Davies performance (and here, more than anything else I've seen him outside maybe Rescue Dawn) looks like he's about to explode or cry or both at any moment, and just how Russell takes a very direct approach to the psychological issues at hand make it essential viewing for those looking for subversive American cinema from the 1990's, or ever really.
It would be in Amos Vogel's book if it had been made in the 60's or 70's you mark my words! That it was made for (relatively) so little and looks pretty polished is a further credit (this won the Audience Award at Sundance 94 - the year Clerks was there, to give perspective).
This review of Spanking the Monkey (1994) was written by Jack G on 16 Aug 2013.
Spanking the Monkey has generally received positive reviews.
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