Movies

Are acting awards regularly given to monkeys? I'm guessing not, but the joyous monkey portraying a monkey (what else?) in Speed Racer deserves, at least, some gentle recognition in that he/she makes the film a bit more tolerable than would have been accomplished otherwise.

A backhanded compliment or two should be thrown in the general direction of John Goodman (Speed Racer's father) as well, who is his usual charming self, even among such potential-shattering fodder.

Speed Racer, though never quite as popular a TV series as certain studio execs seem to think, certainly had a chance of transferring beautifully to cinema, especially with the directors of The Matrix and the terribly underrated V for Vendetta (the Wachowski brothers) hopping aboard to helm the project.

Yet, even with such promise, Speed Racer can't help but lose itself in pretty digital magic and an obvious indecision among the filmmakers about whether to make a strictly kids-oriented movie, or a heartfelt success story in the vein of one of those Disney TV movies about a kid who proves everyone wrong and becomes a famous motocross racer, even though fighting against such "odds" as unsupportive but loving parents and depressingly stereotypical school bullies — which, in itself, is still a kids' film.

The missed point here is the forgotten realization that, yes, you can make a film that encompasses both of these clichés and weaves them into something, at least, entertaining.

Speed Racer certainly has moments of cinematic pleasure (largely, special effects and the aforementioned Goodman), but is, by all diagnoses, a tolerable mess; which is an even bigger shame considering the hard work that obviously went into crafting the visual aspects of the film. The real waste here is Emile Hirsch, who surprised everyone in last year's Into the Wild.

Perhaps the next Wachowski brothers adventure will be a bit more indicative of their proven talents. Regardless, I'm sure the monkey is making aspiring monkey actors the world over quite proud, and profoundly jealous.