Bad Monkey: Vince Vaughn Revisits Vince Vaughn in Adaptation of Carl Hiaasen’s Comic Novel

By Liam Lacey

Rating: B

The new 10-part Apple TV+ series Bad Monkey, based on Carl Hiaasen’s 2013 novel of the same name, is easily consumed, like fast food, beers on the beach, steamy novels, and other bloated pleasures.

Profound it isn’t. But there’s something to be said for the trick of turning murder, greed, and psychopathy into a breezy, little bit sleazy, summer entertainment.

Narrated by a crusty old fishing boat captain (Tom Nowicki), the story unfolds as a shaggy dog comic noir tale that includes vehicular violence, medical fraud, an Obeah priestess, pill-popping doctors, crooked developers, gold diggers, sexual misconduct, a severed arm, Christian hipsters and, of course, the film’s titular monkey, a capuchin named Driggs. Stitching it together is a soundtrack consisting of 21 Tom Petty covers.

Bill Lawrence (Scrubs, Shrinking, Ted Lasso), who developed the series, has assembled an amusing cast, led by Vince Vaughn as Detective Andrew Yancy, playing a version of one of those fast-talking, good-hearted smartasses that made him a box-office success a couple of decades ago in R-rated comedies such as Wedding Crashers, Dodgeball, and Swingers.

In the opening episode, we learn that Yancy has been suspended from his detective duties after assaulting the husband of his sex buddy, the well-read, amoral Bonnie Witt (Michelle Monaghan). When not fishing, drinking, and inspecting local tourist diners, Yancy spends his time harassing the realtor next door (SNL’s Alex Moffat) in his efforts to sell a monster spec home that violates both local ordinances and good taste.

Yancy’s chance at career redemption comes with the discovery of a man’s severed arm on a tourist fisherman’s line. His police captain invites him to take the limb in a cooler to a forensics lab in Miami, where he meets, flirts with, and strikes a spark with Latina medical examiner Rosa Campesino (Natalie Martinez), who becomes his investigative ally.

The severed arm leads Yancy to Eve Stripling (Search Party’s Meredith Hagner), the perky young widow of the arm’s owner. Without official authorization, Yancy decides to investigate further, in a quest that eventually takes him to the Bahamas and a second cast of characters.

On the island of Andros, we meet the monkey of the title, the mischievous pet of a laidback young fisherman, Neville Stafford (Ronald Peet), whose seaside home is about to be razed by a crooked if bumbling developer (Rob Delaney) and his hired enforcer, an intimidating local named Egg (David St. Louis.). That leads Yancy to seek magical assistance from Gracie (Jodie Turner-Smith), a regal healer and sorceress who calls herself Dragon Queen.

By the time the various wacky characters and plot strands more or less converge, one is left with the feeling of being at a kooky party that has gone on a while too long. The 10 hours of Bad Monkey are best not binged but treated like strong medicine: taking no more than two episodes at a time to avoid a bellyful of bloat.

Bad Monkey. The first two episodes are currently available to stream on Apple TV+, with remaining episodes premiering weekly on Wednesdays.