by Sony Pictures
| Average Rating: |
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| Sales Rank: | 8009 (lower is better) |
| Price as of: | 10/06/2008 8:13:20 AM MDT |
| Price Used: | $0.01 |
| Shipping: | Free Shipping on most orders over $25* |
| Availability: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| Director: | Luke Greenfield |
| Release Date: | 2001-10-30 |
| Label: | Sony Pictures |
| UPC: | 043396062511 |
| Binding: | DVD |
| Published By: | Sony Pictures |
| ASIN: | B00005OCJP |
| Category: | DVD |
Actors and Actresses
Editorial Reviews and Product Descriptions
Amazon.com
You expect cheap gags from a Rob Schneider movie, and The Animal delivers in the best possible way. Schneider plays Marvin Mange, a schlub of a police file clerk who drives off a cliff and is horribly mangled--only to wake up not only whole, but feeling better than he ever has in his life. He suddenly develops strange powers that lead to him being praised as a super cop. Unfortunately, his powers are the result of a scientist's bizarre experiment--and before long, some side effects start to take over his life. It's hard to put a finger on Schneider's appeal, but he's got something. He can get away with tasteless jokes about bestiality and bodily functions because... well... he's sort of helplessly sympathetic, and somehow this actually makes him funny. --Bret Fetzer
Customer Reviews
"A Badger Can Lift Twenty Times His Body Weight! Can You Do That?" - Reviewed on 2007-04-28
1 customer found this review helpful.
"The Animal" is a lightweight comedy that uses animal-related slapstick to get laughs. Rob Schneider plays Marvin Mange, a none-too-bright lackey who wants to be a policeman. He is constantly taunted in achieving his goal by Ed Asner as Chief Wilson, and the wonderful John C. McGinley (who you will know from a similar portrayal in television's "Scrubs") as Sergeant Sisk. It's a given that there's a pretty girl up for grabs, this time played by the lovely Colleen Haskell, who is a fellow animal lover.
Mange has a terrible (and amusing; watch for the seal and a Bigfoot cameo) car accident that results in his being infused with animal parts, giving him various superhuman powers. (One of the crudest, yet entertaining, examples occurs in Ed Asner's office, and that's all I'm going to say about it.) Mange doesn't understand at first what has happened to him, and credits drinking badger milk for his newfound gifts; the "Badger Milk" infomercial and product are both quite amusing. I had no idea badger milk was so viscous!
Marvin becomes a hero largely thanks to his superhuman sense of smell (don't even ask about this...) and rescues the Mayor's son from drowning in a lake, swimming like a dolphin. There is lots of animal related humor, some of it crude (e.g. orangutan flatus, regurgitating worms to a turkey vulture chick, territorial marking, hairballs, etc.) I was especially amused when he was fitted with a "satellite head" collar to prevent his chewing on himself: while it may not sound especially funny, it was a visually stunning effect. I could have done without Marvin's amorous overtures (with a Capra aegagrus hircus) while "Let's Get It On" oozes across the soundtrack, although he did get his just rewards in a rather amusing scene.
After a string of chupacabraesque attacks on livestock, a hunt is on focused on Marvin, but all is not as it seems: I actually did not foresee the ending of the film, although I thought that Ed Asner summed it up pretty well with his final line, "These pantyhose are killing me."
"The Animal" DVD features several extras including commentaries and a special feature called "Badger Delivery." When you turn the Badger Delivery option on, an icon is periodically displayed. When you make a selection on your remote when the icon is in view, an extra featuring Schneider comes up and explains extra footage that was edited out and then shows the clip. I had never seen that technique done quite that way, and I liked it.
This film is fairly brainless and inoffensive. Unsurprisingly, it is occasionally crude, frequently stupid, but also more entertaining than I really expected it to be. While there are definitely better movies out there, you could definitely do worse. I give "The Animal" three stars because badgers are fun.
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Book Subjects
- Adult Humor
- Bright
- Bumbling Cops
- Color
- Comedies
- Comedy
- Comedy Video
- English
- Experiments Gone Awry
- Feature
- Feature Film-comedy
- Frantic
- Goofy
- Humorous
- Light
- Mad Scientists
- Madcap
- Merry
- Movie
- Police Comedy