We have the respected actor who can do drama, action, and comedy, as in Gods and Monsters, The Mummy, and Blast from the Past. Then there's the big goofball that made Encino Man, Dudley Do-Right, and now Monkeybone. We all have bills to pay, but Brendan, there's something called "pride."
MonkeyBone opens with a cartoon that makes Ren and Stimpy look like P.J. Funnybunny. Viewers who did not run screaming toward the exit (or the "Eject" button) then meet mild-mannered cartoonist Stu Miley (Fraser), who's about to break into the Big Time with the help of his terminally gay business associate, Herb (Dave Foley). He's decided to ask girlfriend Julie (Bridget Fonda) to marry him, but doesn't get the chance due to a giant Plot Convenience Monkey Balloon that waylays him and leaves him (but unfortunately not the viewer) comatose.
Now the movie attempts to dethrone Zardoz as the strangest freakin' film ever made. Stu finds himself in some kind of dreamland called "Downtown," which looks like a cross between Toon Town and A.I.'s Rouge City. Here, Stu meets Titt--I mean, "Kitty"--played by Rose McGowan and her cleavage. (A special nod to Rose; she did have the best parts in the movie.) Stu blunders around meeting bizarre characters, topped off by his very own cross-dressing cartoon monkey creation, Monkeybone. Together, they discover the way back to the real world is to steal a "pass key" from Death, played by a type-cast Caryn Johnson (aka, "Whoopi Goldberg").
Meanwhile, back in the real world, Stu's sister (Karen from Will & Grace--not just the actress, the character) has decided to pull the plug on ol' Stu, ending his life before the movie can get any worse. Before the amps stop flowing, though, Monkeybone (back in Downtown) grabs the pass key and escapes into Stu's awakening body. Whoa, look out now--antics are about to ensue!
Stu (possessed by Monkeybone) awakes as a completely obnoxious, self-centered jackass, much like Sylvester Stallone but with a higher I.Q.
In a Hitchcockian plot twist, we discover Monkeybone is on a mission: to bring more nightmares to Downtown. Accomplishing this involves distributing hundreds of Monkeybone stuffed animals with their thumbs up their butts. When the thumbs are pulled out, a nightmare-inducing gas is released. (A movie can never have too much flatulence-related humor for me.)
Meanwhile, back in Downtown, Stu gets locked up with Stephen King, who now can say getting hit by that van is the second worst experience of his life. Stu escapes with the help of his two best friends (Kitty), and convinces Death to let him go home. Since his own body is possessed by Monkeybone, he gets another: a dead gymnast in the process of donating his organs, which keep falling out through the subsequent chase scenes. Another pinnacle of human comedy achievement.
Sadly, both Stu (in the dead gymnast's body) and Monkeybone (in Stu's body) get killed. Even sadder, Death sends them back, reunited into one body since Stu is a little "too vanilla" for Whoopi. (Question: Is Chris Tucker a little "too chocolate"?) Stu and Julie live happily ever after, at least until (God forbid) the sequel.
I almost feel guilty giving this one four vacuums: it's like shooting fish in a teacup.