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      Ape

      2012 1h 26m Comedy Drama Fantasy List
      83% 6 Reviews Tomatometer 71% 100+ Ratings Audience Score Trevor, a struggling comedian, bombs onstage and in life. Instead of turning his anger into his on-stage performances, he hides in the crackling glow of the fires he sets. Read More Read Less

      Critics Reviews

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      Drew Hunt Chicago Reader This unnerving character study by Joel Potrykus embraces the anxieties and neuroses of its protagonist, but despite the dire subject matter it manages to be fractiously playful. Apr 25, 2014 Full Review Michael Rechtshaffen Hollywood Reporter While the delivery isn't the smoothest, this portrait of a sociopath comic still hits its keenly-observed marks. Apr 25, 2014 Full Review Jeannette Catsoulis New York Times A biting, sometimes droll look at the allure of humiliation, "Ape" appears simple, but its underlying machinery is joltingly clever. Apr 24, 2014 Full Review Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com Unfortunately, the film, particularly the first half, feels incredibly amateurish and sluggish, and creaks along like nails on the chalkboard until eventually finding a workable rhythm. Aug 6, 2019 Full Review John Serba MLive.com Slightly psychotic... lets us fill in the character's blank slate, possibly, probably, with our own psychoses, be they great or moderate. Rated: 3/4 Feb 25, 2014 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member Joel Potrykus film drops us not only into the physical world of a failing comic but into his head as well. The idea of exploring the level of anger behind stand-up comedy is not new, but Potrykus takes it all the a very new level. Joshua Burge is an awesome fit for this director's cleverly unnerving study into alienation, failure, rage and sociopathic descent. This is movie that refuses to settle into predictability. Great film. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member If Scorsese's 'Taxi Driver' & 'The King of Comedy', Bronstein's 'Frownland' and Schumacher's 'Falling Down' (with a touch of Cronenberg & Korine) had engaged in an orgy while next to a raging inferno, you'd get this movie. Trevor is a struggling comedian who is also a pyromaniac. One day he makes a deal with a man dressed as the devil in exchange for a golden apple. The apple he eats in it's entirety while on stage and it boosts his confidence while slowly sucking the life out of him. As a way of removing his humility, but to remind him of it, someone in an ape costume parades around like the man in the rabbit suit from Donnie Darko. It plays an existential role in Trevor's toilet flush of a life, but you can't help but find a likable quality to him. Joshua Burge as Trevor was utterly convincing as the psycho comedian with a pyromania fetish. The anti-funny stance to the stand up world was perfectly satirized and the real world surrounding Trevor's struggle was harsh and sad. Still, it's an impressively made movie with a LOT of angry energy buried underneath. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member The first hour of the movie was a depressing, clerk-style but with awful acting disaster. The "devil" portion was sort of clever but not a strong enough finale to make up for a dreary 90%. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member While the delivery isn't the smoothest, this portrait of a sociopath comic still hits its keenly-observed marks. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member A brilliantly fresh and saucy, symbolically packed comedy ( or should I say stand up comedy ? ) about the absurdity of life!!! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis Trevor, a struggling comedian, bombs onstage and in life. Instead of turning his anger into his on-stage performances, he hides in the crackling glow of the fires he sets.
      Director
      Joel Potrykus
      Producer
      Kevin Clancy
      Screenwriter
      Joel Potrykus
      Production Co
      Sob Noisse Movies
      Genre
      Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Aug 10, 2016
      Runtime
      1h 26m