More fun than the proverbial barrel of primates, Bad Monkey on Apple TV+ (adapted by Ted Lasso’s Bill Lawrence from a riotous Carl Hiaasen novel) is delightfully impure escapism, a twisted caper that begins with a severed arm fished out of the ocean…with its middle finger raised.
Random rigor mortis, as a coroner suggests? Or, more likely, it’s a grisly poke in the eye of crime-drama convention, a sign not to take things too seriously.
Andrew Yancy certainly doesn’t. This role of a disgraced detective who chooses to follow up on this bizarre mystery is tailored beautifully to Vince Vaughn’s expert way with an offhand sarcastic zinger, as comfortable a fit as the colorful Hawaiian shirts Yancy favors.
A relentless and quick-witted chatterbox, Yancy exasperates his superiors in the Miami PD, who’ve suspended him, reducing him to working as a restaurant health inspector in his beloved Florida Keys, which have never looked better. (A crucial scene occurs at one of my favorite Key West institutions, the Half Shell Raw Bar.) When he’s not tormenting the real-estate creep (Saturday Night Live’s game Alex Moffat) who’s trying to sell the monstrous mansion next door to his beachfront property, Yancy doggedly—and against orders—pursues the identity of the arm’s owner.
The trail leads to a tangled thicket of fraud and murderous corruption that extends to the Bahamian island of Andros. This unspoiled land is home to Driggs, the titular monkey of mischief owned by Neville (Ronald Peet), a carefree beachcomber who runs afoul of a ruthless developer.
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How Yancy’s and Neville’s paths cross involves twists too juicy to spoil in such a satisfying cocktail of humor, action, and suspense. Suffice it to say that everyone appears to be having the time of their lives, including the women in Yancy’s life: Natalie Martinez as Rosa, a Miami medical examiner who laughs at his jokes (who wouldn’t?); and Michelle Monaghan as Bonnie, a foxy femme fatale with a murky past. Which prompts Yancy to gripe: “For future reference, I already find women so confusing you don’t have to bother with fake names!”
Meredith Hagner (Search Party) and Catastrophe‘s Rob Delaney are joyfully malevolent as the story’s main villains, a not-so-grieving widow and her smitten companion. And we haven’t even mentioned the “Dragon Queen” sorceress (a formidable Jodie Turner-Smith) who yearns to experience life beyond Andros.
As far as I’m concerned, they’re all living in paradise. And the monkey business of Bad Monkey is a ticket to TV nirvana.
Bad Monkey, Series Premiere (two episodes), Wednesday, August 14, Apple TV+
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