George of the Jungle . Tucson Weekly . 07-28-97

George of the Jungle

DIRECTED BY: Sam Weisman

REVIEWED: 07-28-97

A recent New Yorker cartoon depicts a man watching a program that's "Rated 'P' for 'poop'." The cartoonist must have just seen George of the Jungle, a work that comes closer to the cinematic equivalent of "Pull my finger!" than anything since Blazing Saddles. In this kids' movie with inappropriate adult tendencies, villains are regularly foiled by armpit odor, elephant urine, ape farts and big piles of, yes, poop. I never saw the '70s cartoon upon which the movie is based, but I'd bet a year's supply of Nice 'n Soft that excretory processes didn't receive such focus. I'd also bet two coconuts and a banana that George's efforts to have sex with his high-society love interest weren't a major plot point, either. Though Brendan Fraser and Leslie Mann make attractive, unpretentious leads for a Tarzan story (the former looking like he just completed a vigorous muscle-building-and-body-oiling program), and George of the Jungle's production values are uncommonly high for a slapstick picture, I left the theater wondering whether all of Hollywood was collectively regressing to their Freudian Anal Stage. (Adding insult to injury, a preview for Flubber showed a scene in which the springy substance flies into a man's mouth and explodes out of his butt.) Naturally, kids in the audience loved it.

--Woodruff

Full Length Reviews
George of the Jungle
George of the Jungle
George of the Jungle
George of the Jungle

Other Films by Sam Weisman
Bye Bye Love
The Out-of-Towners

Film Vault Suggested Links
Wallace and Gromit
Mouse Hunt
RocketMan

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