I distinctly remember that it was at a family gathering in the autumn of 1996, when I was told about "Ed", a movie which I had never heard of before. I also got to see at least a bit of the film at that gathering, and it must have been pretty new to the home video format at the time. I was ten years old when this happened, and I guess I was pretty much indifferent to what I saw, most of which I wouldn't remember. I don't think I ever heard anything about this big time flop again until at least nearly a decade later, when I noticed that it was in the IMDb bottom 100. Before discovering that, I knew nothing about the family sports comedy's general reception, but for several years now, I have known that it's generally considered to be atrocious, so I was not too surprised by its lameness when I finally watched it all, fifteen years after its theatrical release.
Jack "Deuce" Cooper proves to be a very talented baseball pitcher while playing on his farm, and his skills get him into the minor leagues, playing for the Santa Rosa Rockets, but it turns out that he doesn't do so well while playing in front of a crowd. Soon after he joins the team, they get another new player, one who happens to be a chimpanzee named Ed! One would likely believe that a monkey couldn't possibly play baseball, but surprisingly, this one is a natural on the field! This unusual baseball player becomes Jack's new roommate, and unfortunately, he soon ends up causing a lot of trouble for the human baseball player in the home, making big messes and doing things Jack wishes he wouldn't do. However, despite Ed's sometimes reckless behaviour, he turns out to be a really good friend to Jack, and a big help to the Rockets during games, but somebody has other plans for this popular minor league player!
I don't know what the humour here is like for kids, but while watching the film after growing up, there wasn't a single moment I was unable to keep a straight face through! Ed is one unconvincing monkey, and is also very unfunny with his antics! The sight gags involving this character causing trouble and being messy, plus the ones involving his bodily functions, are perfect examples of the movie's poor attempts to be humorous. Ed may be the weakest aspect of the film, but any other character that is supposed to be funny, including more than one human Santa Rosa Rockets player and the Liz character, also fails miserably. In addition to being consistently unfunny, "Ed" also has a dull plot (one could easily call that an understatement), and whether Jack "Deuce" Cooper is out on the baseball field with Ed, at home or on the road having problems with the chimp's behaviour, dating the Lydia character, etc., it's generally not entertaining at all. I should probably mention that the story sure is predictable as well, with no big surprises, and if the writers ever tried to be touching here, they also failed at that.
All I could remember from what I saw of this movie back when I was ten years old was a baseball player saying Ed is Curious George, shaking his hand, and telling him he has read all his books, and the trouble the monkey causes as Jack's roommate making the struggling baseball player say, "I'm gonna spank that monkey!" Well, after watching what I saw all those years ago, along with the rest of the film, I'm going to remember a lot more, not that these memories will do me much good. If I hadn't been introduced to the film in my childhood, I doubt it would have really caught my attention when I found it in the bottom 100, and I wouldn't have ever seen it, but wouldn't have missed out on much had that been the case. Unlike so many other voters, I can't give "Ed" the lowest rating possible, and am not even 100% sure about my 2/10 rating, but see no really good reason why I should rate it any higher, since I agree with the vast majority that it's thoroughly unfunny and badly written. I may not have said much about this 1996 flop that others have already pointed out, but I agree with these criticisms, and would say there's absolutely nothing to make "Ed" worth watching!
Jack "Deuce" Cooper proves to be a very talented baseball pitcher while playing on his farm, and his skills get him into the minor leagues, playing for the Santa Rosa Rockets, but it turns out that he doesn't do so well while playing in front of a crowd. Soon after he joins the team, they get another new player, one who happens to be a chimpanzee named Ed! One would likely believe that a monkey couldn't possibly play baseball, but surprisingly, this one is a natural on the field! This unusual baseball player becomes Jack's new roommate, and unfortunately, he soon ends up causing a lot of trouble for the human baseball player in the home, making big messes and doing things Jack wishes he wouldn't do. However, despite Ed's sometimes reckless behaviour, he turns out to be a really good friend to Jack, and a big help to the Rockets during games, but somebody has other plans for this popular minor league player!
I don't know what the humour here is like for kids, but while watching the film after growing up, there wasn't a single moment I was unable to keep a straight face through! Ed is one unconvincing monkey, and is also very unfunny with his antics! The sight gags involving this character causing trouble and being messy, plus the ones involving his bodily functions, are perfect examples of the movie's poor attempts to be humorous. Ed may be the weakest aspect of the film, but any other character that is supposed to be funny, including more than one human Santa Rosa Rockets player and the Liz character, also fails miserably. In addition to being consistently unfunny, "Ed" also has a dull plot (one could easily call that an understatement), and whether Jack "Deuce" Cooper is out on the baseball field with Ed, at home or on the road having problems with the chimp's behaviour, dating the Lydia character, etc., it's generally not entertaining at all. I should probably mention that the story sure is predictable as well, with no big surprises, and if the writers ever tried to be touching here, they also failed at that.
All I could remember from what I saw of this movie back when I was ten years old was a baseball player saying Ed is Curious George, shaking his hand, and telling him he has read all his books, and the trouble the monkey causes as Jack's roommate making the struggling baseball player say, "I'm gonna spank that monkey!" Well, after watching what I saw all those years ago, along with the rest of the film, I'm going to remember a lot more, not that these memories will do me much good. If I hadn't been introduced to the film in my childhood, I doubt it would have really caught my attention when I found it in the bottom 100, and I wouldn't have ever seen it, but wouldn't have missed out on much had that been the case. Unlike so many other voters, I can't give "Ed" the lowest rating possible, and am not even 100% sure about my 2/10 rating, but see no really good reason why I should rate it any higher, since I agree with the vast majority that it's thoroughly unfunny and badly written. I may not have said much about this 1996 flop that others have already pointed out, but I agree with these criticisms, and would say there's absolutely nothing to make "Ed" worth watching!