Ed – Monkey Trouble

Ed is a movie centering around a chimpanzee who just so happens to be exceptional at baseball. As a concept, that sounds ridiculous, but kids movies have worked with that conceit—take Air Bud as an example. But Ed is a travesty. Plain and simple.

It's unfunny, nonsensical schlock, and it probably killed the notion that Matt LeBlanc could be bankable as a leading man. The film's failings are not his fault. As devoid of charm as he may be in it, it's just a rudderless enterprise. Other than the novelty of a chimp—who once belonged to Mickey Mantle—having a golden glove, there's a distinct lack of focus.

Ed ping pongs between plot points we've seen in other movies. Universally, they were done better elsewhere. It even shoehorns in a romantic subplot between Ed's raucous bowel movement jokes. One wonders how they found the time.

It should come as no surprise then that Ed was panned by critics. It sits at 0% on Rotten Tomatoes with 16 reviews. It also tanked at the box office. On a budget $24 million, it made just over $4 million. This thing is like hitting into an unassisted triple play.

Now sit back, ease the pain of watching Ed with a Golden Monkey from Victory, and keep the chimp away from your bathroom! I, the Thunderous Wizard (@WriterTLK), Chumpzilla, and Mayor McCheese are stuffing our faces full of frozen bananas!

This Week’s Segments:

• Introduction/Plot Breakdown – Ed loves farting, frosty treats, and assorted hijinks. Sounds hilarious, right? It's not. (00:00) 
• Lingering Questions – We hear from our brothers in beer at Hop Nation USA, and then make the difficult choice: Is this the worst movie we've ever done? (57:23)
• The "Houdini of the Hot Corner" Trivia Challenge – The Double Turn Podcast drops a sacrifice bunt, and then Chumpzilla challenges the field to a series of questions relating to the movie. (1:12:27)
• Recommendations – We offer our picks for the week and next up: We conclude "Hops and Sports Ball Flops" with the golf classic Tin Cup! (1:24:55)

And, as always, hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram to check out all the interesting factoids—Matt LeBlanc's anger over appearing in the film and more—from this week’s episode!

You can find this episode of Hops and Box Office Flops on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, Spotify, Acast, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Vurbl, and Amazon Music!