Great Movie Apes: Dunston From Dunston Checks In
Rumor has it that this week the apes will rise. So in honor of our primate cousins and their varied achievements on film, Movieline will honor one great movie ape/monkey/chimp each day who embodies an admirable quality found in monkeykind. Today we're commemorating an orangutan trained as a jewel thief who butts heads with Jason Alexander, Faye Dunaway, Paul Reubens, and Rupert Everett. He is Dunston of Dunston Checks In, and he'll coax you into adoration -- using his bare hands.
Name: Dunston (as played by Sam)
Film: Dunston Checks In
Great Ape Quality: Deception, shiatsu
Yes, Rotten Tomatoes's rating for Dunston Checks In stands at a rough 7 percent, but Dunston outperforms his Tony- and Oscar-winning costars in this 1996 dud. Not only is he a heist-savvy ape with great comic timing, but he's also a fabulous masseuse. He's so great, in fact, that an unsuspecting client mistakes him for a human massage therapist. Naughty, Dunston! Naughty!
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Comments
This is hysterical! Movie monkeys are notorious for their awkward comic timing...must be their lack of irony. I can't help but feel this was a distinctly 90's obsession. Monkey Trouble, Mighty Joe Young, Born To Be Wild, Ed, Marcel on Friends.....
Save for the last one, I saw all of these cinematic atrocities in theaters. On opening weekend, no less!