The Animal

Movie Title: The Animal
Rating: 5+
Reviewed By: Michael Stevens

Review:

Rob Schneider, not someone I think of as a funny actor nor as a lead actor, just an old actor from SNL. So going into this movie I’m thinking Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, a film I didn’t want to see, and didn’t see. So I guess you could say I was pleasantly surprised after watching The Animal. Not to say that this is a great film by any stretch of the imagination, simply far better than my expectations.

As to the plot, Schneider plays a lowly police evidence clerk by the name of Marvin Mange. He is the butt of the jokes and generally pissed on by the rest of the police force since he is a complete wuss, yet still wants to become a regular cop in the tradition of his dead father. Then one day Marvin is the only person left at the office and a robbery call comes in (you have to suspend reality here since this would never happen) so he responds to the call. But on his way to the robbery he has a horrible yet funny automobile accident. Then a week later Marvin returns to the station thinking it has only been a day since he left. A little later he discovers that a strange doctor (Michael Caton) saved him using animal parts (all of this you should have gotten from the trailers). So now he has a lot of special animal powers such as an enhanced sense of smell. But there are side effects too, mainly he can’t control his animal instincts for sex and food. In addition to this he is falling for a beautiful animal lover named Rianna (Colleen Haskell). Plus he is made a real cop pending a probationary period in which his arch nemesis (that might be too elaborate of a term for this film) Sergeant Sisk (John C. McGinley) keeps a close eye on Marvin so that he can try and catch Marvin screwing up. Amazingly enough, there is actually more to The Animal than what I’ve covered here, so you’ll actually have to go watch it if you want the rest of the details.

Ed Asner plays the role of chief of police, and I think he does a pretty good job with the role. Also in the film are Louis Lombardi, Bob Rubin, Guy Torry, and Schneider’s posse of Adam Sandler and Norm Macdonald in cameos. Luke Greenfield directs and Tom Brady wrote the film.

As I stated earlier, I was pleasantly surprised with The Animal, but even that doesn’t mean it was necessarily a good movie. The Animal is neither good nor bad, just mediocre. Some good laughs, some stupid jokes, and one hot woman (Colleen Haskell). The Animal gets five couches and a doggie bone. Later.