Monkey Man

Dev Patel impresses in directorial debut even if the movie isn't as good as its trailer.

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You ever see a trailer so good that there’s no way the movie can live up to its promo? Actor Dev Patel’s directorial debut “Monkey Man” (in theaters beginning Friday, April 5) is one such picture.

Patel stars as Kid, a young man who lost his mother Neela (Adithi Kalkunte) as a child when she stood her ground against politico Baba Shakti (Makarand Deshpande) and crooked cop Rana (Sikander Kher).

Kid kicks up cash by donning a monkey mask and fighting in underground bouts organized and overseen by Tiger (a sleazy Sharlto Copley coming across like Dana White by way of Michael Buffer from the fringes).

Kid uses the fight game to connect with drug dealer Alphonso (an amusing Pitobash), who can grant him access to and employment with club owner Queenie (Ashwini Kalsekar … also funny). Queenie’s club is a frequent haunt of Baba Shakti and Rana, which will afford Kid the opportunity to exact his revenge.

“Monkey Man” is a simple story told fairly simply. At 113 minutes it’s too long and would’ve played better at the 90 to 100 minute range. It was originally supposed to be a Netflix movie and it shows, but I’d put it on the level of the good “Extraction” as opposed to the great “Extraction 2.”

Patel claims to have run into roadblocks during production and it shows. He says some of the film was shot on his iPhone, which would explain why a lot of Sharone Meir’s action cinematography recalls Oliver Wood’s chaotic work on Paul Greengrass’ “Bourne” pictures.

I liked a lot of what Patel did with “Monkey Man” (there’s a car chase that’s especially fun, he uses action to functionally comment on politics and religion) and he shows promise as a director. I’m certainly curious to check out whatever he does next … even if this feels like a vanity project at times, i.e. Kid’s photographed with arms outstretched in a Christ pose, someone damn near cat calls Kid when he removes his shirt.

“Monkey Man” feels disjointed in a lot of respects. Kid befriends and trains an adorable dog and the animal disappears without explanation. Alphonso often disappears and reappears with little rhyme or reason. (I could’ve gone for more of him.) Kid has a prospective love interest in Sita (Sobhita Dhulipala), but their relationship is never fully paid off. “Monkey Man” was sold as a fight flick and while the ones we get are cool there simply isn’t enough of ‘em.

I wish “Monkey Man” were as accomplished as the movie that was sold to us, but it’s still a fairly impressive directorial calling card for Patel.