Spanking the Monkey

Released 1994
Stars Jeremy Davies, Benjamin Hendrickson, Alberta Watson, Carla Galio
Directed by David O. Russell

"People ask if this film is autobiographical, and many of the circumstances in it are but I've pushed them farther than they really went. It's personal, but not completely autobiographical. It was common in my home and my friends' homes to see no fathers around - and even when they were around they weren't really around. It wasn't just that they were so busy working hard for the family to afford living there, but they became estranged from the family and it was too hard for them to come back into the fold, I think. There were lots of lonely mothers who got overinvested in their sons' lives...The weird thing about this very common situation is that nobody much talks about it."
- David O. Russell, writer/director of Spanking the Monkey

My college days aren't so far behind me that I can't recognize a nightmare summer vacation when I see one. And that, amongst weightier issues, is exactly what Spanking the Monkey is about. If poor Ray (Jeremy Davies) ever had any illusions about life being fair, they don't last beyond the first five minutes of David O. Russell's debut feature. Ray's Freshman year at MIT has gone very well. So well, in fact, that he has been awarded a rare summer internship working at the Surgeon General's office in Washington D.C. It's the opportunity of a lifetime -- but not Ray's, apparently. His father, Tom (Benjamin Hendrickson), has other plans for him: stay home, mow the lawn, take the dog on long walks, and -- while he's there -- play nurse to his mother, Susan (Alberta Watson). She's suffering from a low self-image, acute depression, and a badly fractured left leg. So much for Ray's perfect summer. Spanking the Monkey is a diabolically dark comedy complete with an insight or two into human nature keen enough to cause a little discomfort.

Summary by James Berardinelli

Whoa, what a brave, wicked film. I say brave, because of its subject matter and the autobiographical aspects. How difficult would it be for writer/director Russell to deal with his family after this? And how about the family members dealing with each other? Incest is controversial subject matter that no one's willing to touch, but he handles it brilliantly. I'm amazed by this debut. It's wickedly funny (especially the father), but what makes the film is Russell's restraint. There's nothing funny about incest, and Russell knows it. He doesn't find any humor there. Instead, he treats it sensitively and leaves much to the imagination. We see the unnatural attraction build while Ray rubs lotion on his mother's body and helps her with her showers. You can sense his confusion and neediness build. Then when they're both drunk and his mother slightly raises her shirt and turns to give him a look, it's over. What I loved about this scene was how unforced it was and how the cutaway left us wondering what the hell happened. I do wish, however, Russell had given us more insight into the characters. That's my only criticism. I didn't mind that Ray was an unlikable protagonist, but I wish I had known what was happening in his head. I also wanted to know what his mother was thinking. --Bill Alward, December 1, 2001