Review: Does the creator of Ted Lasso have another hit with Bad Monkey?

There’s much which will intrigue and a lot to like in Apple TV+’s new series Bad Monkey. Photo / Apple TV+
REVIEW
The Vince Vaughn crime-comedy centres on a missing arm, black magic and a monkey. Is that enough?
Foul magic, a severed limb, violent goons, a swarm of bees, a monkey that may or may not be bad and Vince Vaughn in full motormouth mode. Yes, there’s much which will intrigue and a lot to like in Apple TV+’s new series Bad Monkey.
The series starts simply, if grotesquely, with a rich tourist on a charted fishing boat reeling in the aforementioned chopped arm. Not wanting the crime statistic, the local sheriff hands it over to Vaughn’s disgraced detective Andrew Yancy with the promise that if he does him the favour of driving it across Florida State lines to Miami, then he’ll do him a favour and help get that pesky suspension lifted…
It’s an offer Yancy can’t refuse. But even with his (read: Vaughn’s) gift of the gab, Yancy fails the mission and ends up back in Florida with the arm stashed in his freezer, a victim statement in his head and a keen interest in cracking the case. All of which are extremely against the law.
“I’m suspended. I’m technically not even a detective anymore,” he explains to the attractive forensic examiner in Miami that he failed to fob the arm off too. When asked why he was suspended, he replies, “They said I was consistently reckless, inappropriate and glib.”
This is a quintessentially Vince Vaughn answer if ever there was one. Even if it does neglect to mention the real cause; a crime of passion that ended with his lover’s abusive husband taking a long drive off a short pier.
Later, Yancy and the examiner will join forces as they attempt to solve the crime while also fuelling the show’s “will they/won’t they” B-plot.
It may be a premium series on the premium streaming service owned by the world’s premium technology company, but Bad Monkey has a real shaggy, low-key vibe to it. It’s as loose and breezy as a Hawaii shirt and, having been shot in location in Florida and Miami, is every bit as colourful as one.
A lot of this can be attributed to Vaughn. His laid-back charisma belies the heavy lifting he’s doing to carry the show. The Vaughn paradox is his ability to present such a relaxed demeanour while constantly firing his fast-talkin’, wise-crackin’ jive.
How much of the comedy in Bad Monkey is due to Vaughn going full Vaughn and how much was in the script, I don’t know. With Bill Lawrence being the creative force driving the show, it really is anyone’s guess.
Lawrence was the chap behind the long-running, extremely funny 2000s medical sitcom Scrubs and the recent crowd-pleasing, feel-good sports comedy Ted Lasso. Between the two of them, you’d think you’d have a laugh riot. But even with Vaughn zinging for everything he’s worth, Bad Monkey never rises above amusing. This would be fatal for the typical Lawrence sitcom. But that’s not what he’s shooting for with Bad Monkey.
Instead, greater importance is placed on the crime-drama aspect of the show and its spiralling murder mystery, which starts with that severed arm in Florida but quickly crosses the Atlantic Ocean to embrace shady resort developers, drive-by shootings, deadly Caribbean folk magic, the mysterious Dragon Queen and a man who just wants to live unbothered in his home.
And, of course, the titular monkey.
How these elements all tie into each other is one of the show’s big mysteries, while the humour of Vaughn’s under-the-table investigation is its big draw.
Adding to the show’s relaxed vibe is the ever-present voiceover of the narrator. This lends the series a feeling similar to its fellow shaggy-crime story, The Big Lebowski. Especially as Yancy’s investigation sends him deeper and deeper into the weird world of Florida’s criminal underbelly.
So, the series has zingers and it has mystery, but it’s also missing something. I’ve spent more brainpower trying to figure out what that is than I have attempting to piece together the show’s core mystery.
“There’s somebody keeping an eye on me because of what I know. But I really don’t know what I know,” Yancy says, moments before someone tries to kill him. Aside from the dodging death bit, that sums up how I feel about the show. I know it’s missing something but I really don’t know what.
Maybe I’m just used to the frenetic, fast-paced crime-comedy style of directors like Guy Ritchie who keep the camera zipping about in a blur of inventive activity. In contrast, Bad Monkey feels as rushed as a sunny afternoon at the beach. Fortunately, the show is just as enjoyable.
Karl Puschmann is an entertainment columnist for the Herald. His fascination lies in finding out what drives and inspires creative people.