MVP: Most Valuable Primate (2000) User Reviews

While this may not be the worst, I hate animal-sport flicks

[perni · 16 September 2002]

First the dog plays basketball. Then football. Then soccer. Then baseball with a racoon. Now we have a monkey playing hockey, a sequel where the same monkey skateboards, and according to this web site there is a third DTV movie starring the horrible primate on the way! Am I the only person on the planet who detests animal-sport movies?! I watched this on the Disney Channel when there was nothing on, and it was so predictable I was actually telling the movie what to do. Okay old man, could you like die in the next five seconds please? Ah, thanks. Could the evil coach object to a monkey playing hockey only to be reprimanded because there's no rule against monkeys playing hockey? Wow, thanks for that. Sheesh. For some reason they decided to throw in a deaf girl plot but then they throw in another Air Bud cliche by having a smart villan and a dumb sidekick looking for the monkey so they can experiment on him. Could someone write a script please?! A really odd scene is where the 'cool' girl (if there is such a thing in the 5th grade) passes out birthday party invitations to all the kids in class. The deaf girl gets all mopey. Suddenly the cool girl starts THROWING these invitations in the air and they go everywhere, and the whole thing is in slow motion. Now, later on the film says the deaf girl wasn't invited. Well, if the cool girl was just throwing them for people to pick up, it doesn't seem like they were personalized. Also, she clearly states that 'everyone' can come. So why didn't the deaf girl just grab one and show up for the party? It's not like the cool girl can turn away a wimpering deaf kid. Anyway, here are the top five ideas for the future of animal-sport flicks:

1. A giraffe plays volleyball (and can always spike it!) 2. A polar bear is adopted by a middle school dodgeball team 3. The last remaining dodo takes up archery 4. Some wacky seals try out for a Canadian water polo league 5. A one-legged cat competes in the Olympic track event

Do I sound sarcastic? Good. MVP may not suck the big donkey, but it is not anything special by any stretch of the mind. 2/4 stars.

This film is tripe!

[codzilla · 1/10 · 7 October 2007]

My wife made me buy this from the bargain bin at w-mart. She loves monkey movies (I don't, as a rule).

Not really a spoiler, but I figured I'd check the box just in case, before writing the next bit....

What makes this film actually a bit funny, albeit probably unintentional, is the fact that the (obviously) American writers figure it takes a chimp and a red-blooded American boy to make a Canadian hockey team take itself seriously. The Canadians on the team are portrayed as lunkheads who really don't care about winning or losing and can't play hockey.....until, of course, the pretty boy and the chimp from South of the border come up and teach them a lesson in winning and team pride.

Seriously folks, since when have the Americans taught Canadians ANYTHING about hockey??? The Miracle on Ice that occurred 30 years ago was called a "miracle" for a reason.

To put this in perspective from a cultural-pride point of view, think of how a movie with a Canadian kid who plays baseball and a bear cub from Canada somehow made it onto a AAA baseball team. The team really sucks and all the pre-existing American guys were fat and stupid, and the Canadian duo led them to the championship. If that sounds appealing to you, then by all means, watch this movie.

is there anything worse ?....

[james-1954 · 1/10 · 29 October 2006]

Always on Daytime Sky movies, terrible plot, awful wooden acting. Was watching this while decorating, and being truthful, was difficult to decide whether this or the paint was more interesting to watch.

AVOID AVOID AVOID.

I do not understand why there are now three versions of this primate film, and why SKY seem it important enough to show all of these, most weekdays, several times a day.

Perhaps it was because they got them on discount.

Please vote with your feet and get sky and other companies to take this dross off our screens.

M.P.P. Most Pathetic Primate.

[anaconda-40658 · 2/10 · 1 September 2015]

M.V.P: Most Valuable Primate (2000): Dir: Robert Vince / Cast: Kevin Zegers, Jamie Renee Smith, Ric Docummun, Dave Thomas, Alexa Fox: Everything that has been done before stressing that animals can be smarter than people. That theory is severely tested when they wind up in this junk. Ads specify that this film is from the creators of Air Bud while neglecting the xerox plot of this film as if a different animal makes the difference. Instead of a dog trying to be Michael Jordan, we have a chimpanzee trying to be Wayne Gretzky. Jack is a chimpanzee whose owner has a heart attack so he is sent on his way. Or maybe the owner read the script and had a horrid reaction as to what he sold his poor chimp into. Jack is befriended by a girl who communicates by sign language. The result is a predictable act of lunacy with director Robert Vince trying his best with familiar material. Jamie Renee Smith as the mute girl has more potential than this monkey show. Kevin Zegers repeats his Air Bud role only he doesn't find the chimpanzee as he did the dog. Also with Ric Ducommun and Dave Thomas who will no doubt hope to get past this. Chimpanzees are listed as amongst the most intelligent of animals yet they are subjected to such dimwitted projects as this. Despite its message of friendship the film is an Air Bud rip off with kitty violence that reduces the film to monkey dung. Score: 2 / 10

Cute and silly...

[RosanaBotafogo · 7/10 · 5 June 2020]

The Chimpanzee and the girl steal the show, but the story is beaten and cliché ... Cute and silly...

Chimp + Hockey = Makes you think!

[cfc3 · 10/10 · 22 December 2004]

Let me start out by saying I am not a big sports fan, I do not like chimps, and I'm an accountant. I am normally not into comedies. I like practical and sober commentaries on the status of social consciousness. But I tell you, when I saw MVP, I did see a tint of social commentary, however, what sold me was the heart. The heart of a young chimp trying to make his way in an unforgiving human environment, reminds me of my struggles during my first tax season. This movie will make you laugh, it will make you cry, and it will even make you think, but most importantly, it will make you laugh while you think of crying.

The most astounding part of this movie is the potential of non-taxable income on the part of MVP. Here's a chimp who has the ability to play in the NHL, thus the ability to generate a lucrative income. I've done my research, and I've found no section of the Internal Revenue Code that applies to chimpanzees, or any other animal for that matter. Meaning, MVP could reap the multi-million dollar contracts we hear so much about, and to the dismay of the IRS, not report a dime! If this chimp is smart, which I dare say he is, he should invest this income into non-taxable municipal bonds. Yeah, that'll really get those fat cats in Washington mad.

Cute film, which launched a series, only animal activists will frown

[inkblot11 · 6/10 · 17 October 2012]

Jack, a chimp, has been trained by a college professor, Dr. Kendall (Lomax Study) to do various human tasks. Each week, a small gathering of adults and children come to a seminar to see his progress. But, alas, one night, the prof has a heart attack and passes away. The head of the department wants to sell him to the highest bidder, even if it means Jack will be subjected to experimentation. That cannot happen, so a janitor, Larry, smuggles Jack out of the lab and puts him on a train to California. That's where Jack's family resides. However, Jack oversleeps and ends up in British Columbia! There, a California family has just transplanted themselves as residents. The son, Steven (Kevin Zegers) is a hockey player who joins a young adult team. Of course, they give him grief for thinking a So-Cal guy can compete with Canadian players. Even in a worse situation is Steve's sister Tara (Jamie Renee Smith) who is deaf and has no luck making friends at her new school. It is Tara who finds Jack and takes him to her room. Before long, Jack is skating alongside Steven and gets himself "placed" on the team. Since the chimp can go through other skaters legs and perform other unusual feats, Steven's team starts winning big. But, with the college looking for their once valuable primate, will everyone's dreams be spoiled? This is a cute film with a funny script and a nice cast. It has a bevy of clichés, as to its story, but each one works enjoyably. No, a chimp would never be allowed on a team, but it doesn't matter. Only animal activists will frown at the flick so, unless you are one of those, get this MVP for your own Most Valuable Family.

The greatest thing ever produced by man-kind

[lukerat88 · 10/10 · 26 May 2005]

Okay, like the guy above me, I like, totally loved this movie. Why did I love it? 'Cause it was frigg'n sweet, that's why.

See, this movie is kinda like a microcosm of society. There's like, this guy, right, who gets picked on all his life for being different. The guy, in this movie, is really a monkey (JACK I LUV U). So, when society gets a guy down, they totally go nuts and join a hockey team and smash people in the face with pucks. I learned a lot from this movie because of that! The sweetest part was when Jack was hanging out outside the hockey rink, smokin' a jay. The audience is like, "what's this street-smart go-getter planning to do?" Then, this guy who threw a cup at his head while he was getting ready to nail the puck in and win the game starts to walk out of the building. Jack, sweet as ever, grabs a skateboard and chucks it at his head and says something like "I hope you still aren't 'board'!" and then he laughs for the remaining half hour of the movie.

Words cannot describe my feelings for this movie. It brings out something powerful in me... like, I dunno, the need to play video games and eat pizza just like Jack would. There are some movies that grab you, and then there are movies which pick you up and slam you against the wall about fourteen times. This is the latter. Thank you, and god bless.

Good!!!!!

[dbragiel · 10/10 · 6 November 2000]

I just came back from seeing MVP and was amazed. I was surprised because I'm 20 so this is more for a kids movie. I've seen Dunston checks In, Air Bud I II, Ed, and That Darn Cat and I just love pet movies. You can't go wrong. First of all Jack the monkey is brilliant. I have never seen a monkey play hockey so well. I don't want to spoil anything but the ending is very good. If you are 20 above and like pet movies this is movie for you.

As far acting goes once again you can't go wrong. Like I said before Jack is one good monkey at skating. His puck handling and skating are convincing and are the best monkey skating I've seen in a movie. Shane Vajda as Moose gave a surprising performance. So for those who haven't seen it skate don't run to your local theatre.

Two primate thumbs up :)

Some people just know nothing about movies!

[moviefreeek882003 · 10/10 · 27 April 2003]

I would just like to say, the people who gave this movie poor ratings, must have something wrong with them. They are entitled to their own opinion, but I still think they are wrong. MVP and all the Air Bud films are excellent. I may not be a big sports fan, but I am a big movie fan and I know good movies when I see them.

Fun, but took over 50 minutes for the monkey to play hockey

[kpaputts · 8/10 · 15 March 2021]

Fun, but took over 50 minutes for the monkey to play hockey

A Great Family Film

[almoace · 10/10 · 14 October 2006]

This is a great film family film, and if you like 'Project X' you will love this film too. (See here for more on 'Project X': http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093793/ )

I have five young children and it's not easy to get them to sit and watch TV in peace, but when this film came on TV that was it, they sat down and we didn't hear a peep from them (apart from laughter), so that just shows how good and funny it is.

When the film had finished my kids wanted to watch it again, so I have been made to go out and buy it on DVD, and you will want to as well, whatever your age.

Surprisingly Loved It!

[LiLMekoGirl · 10/10 · 13 July 2002]

What appears as another random, corny pet movie, turned out to be really good and entertaining. Jack the chimp provided a lot of laughs throughout the movie, which followed deaf Tara and her older brother in the local hockey team...Really, a very good movie.

Distracted by wretched casting, depiction

[i_has_spoken · 22 April 2003]

As a future ASL interpreter and general Deaf culture enthusiast, I watch any movie I can find with sign language or Deaf characters. Imagine my shock when, not only was the character of Tara not played by a Deaf actress, she was not portrayed very well by the hearing one! I understand that this was a subplot, and probably not a very important one to most people (after all, there was an animal on screen! Doing human-y things!), but some accuracy could have been striven for. Of all the Deaf and hearing impaired children I have worked with and been friends with, not one of them signs with their mouth shut. In fact, ASL has a very strong facial element, involving mouth movement and some sounds. And any family that knew how to sign would hopefully not force their child to lipread at home. Even the best lipreader only gets about 70% of the words spoken compared to 100% of the words signed in the beautiful and eloquent language called ASL. If a movie-making team can't spend the time and effort to get a Deaf character right, they shouldn't include one at all. I appreciate they had to have someone who could communicate with the chimp, but they could have made up something much more believable than a semi-famous hearing actress trying to convince me she's Deaf. Like the chimp learning to talk for the role.

I want that Chimp on my hockey team!

[Travis_Moran · 9/10 · 4 May 2005]

I'm way biased on this type of movie. Anything at all with hockey in it I love. But really this movie kicks arse. (I'm doubting IMDb will let me use the other word).

If you play hockey, or you have kids that do, you gotta get this movie. It may not have the best acting in the world, but you won't be bored at all. That Air-Bud kid, Zegers, is a good actor. From Canada too I understand so naturally I'm biased there too. He could use a little work on hockey though. Come see me Zegers, we'll get you in shape & work on those slap shots eh.

I really like animal movies too, so again bias comes in. That chimp in this movie really moved along. You just had to feel for him. I wonder if he really skated that good or if it was effects.

Now some people have picked on this movie a tad, and that's their right, but it's supposed to be a fun movie made for kids, and it shouldn't be judged by standards set for bigger productions. This WAS a fun movie and every kid I know (especially me) had a good time watching it.

Hey, if you liked this movie, there's another good kid hockey movie about a kid who is a genius and makes some weird device under the ice rink that makes people float or whatever. The ice breaks apart during a game too. Awesome. Can't think of the name of the movie though.

Totally Cute!

[gangsta_chee · 21 August 2002]

I thought the movie was adoring! Monkeys are so intelligent! I personally never liked movies with monkeys in them (e.g. Dunston Checks In, Mighty Joe Young etc.) But thanks to my baby cousin for requesting this movie, as I would have never known the amazing qualities that a monkey can have!

Jack, the monkey, is an amazing creature. It never strikes to ANYONE that it's possible for a monkey to skate on ice! Even I, myself have a little trouble sometimes!

Jamie Renee Smith is a great actor! Since she couldn't speak that well, we had to rely on her facial expressions, which were very believable.

Kevin Zegers, what can I say? Great looking actor, I must say, but I really don't think he was put to his full potential for this movie. He always seemed to look a little nervous most of the time. Otherwise, brilliant movie, and I suggest ANYONE who wants something to do, watch this movie!