When I saw this film listed in my local television listings, I too thought, "Hey, Hey It's The Monkees!" I loved watching the episodes from "The Monkees", the television series. To see that they are back, updated in a movie only but nonetheless back, on prime-time was almost a dream come true. That is until I watched it.
"The Monkees" in general terms, is nostalgic and entertaining. Unfortunately, this movie, directed and written by one of the original lead actors(Michael Nesmith) from the old series, is neither. Don't get me wrong, the large scenic window in their living room brings back some wistful memories. But where's the mayhem ... the romp-around-fun ... the suspense? These guys may be old as my father, but I've seen reunion movies of the gang from "Gilligan's Island" be more edge-of-my-seat thrilling!
This film was supposed to be a 1997 spin on "The Monkees", but is 1997 defined with over-done special effects and lack of a strong plot? Sounds like a cross-between television series "Seinfield" and the movie "Inspector Gadget"! Okay, so they made a nod towards Martha Stewart in a parody of QVC sequence, but it is just hip or effective if Dolenz, Jones, Nesmith, and Tork did the Macarena! There are a few good moments in "Hey, Hey, It's The Monkees", like the first two times where Micky used magic monkee dust, the whole "These are the bones..." sequence, and when The Monkees were getting dressed in their tuxedos while just simply reminiscing about old times. No, the movie does not need to be filled with a lot of reminiscing, but that scene was just pleasant at that particular moment in the story.
The direction was okay to say the least. Nesmith makes the scenes run together almost flawlessly, but the supporting actors(or maybe just the supporting characters) seem heavily sedated, like they all are somnambulists through this film. I did not feel anything towards the supporting characters, for instance scared, angry, pleased, happy, etc. as I did for the supporting characters in the 1960s series. If the supporting characters in this film were edited out of the dialogues, I probably would not ever miss them. Now, that I think about it, the lead characters seem sedated or hypnotized also. Similar to the way the lead characters were in their 1969 special "33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee".
Lastly, the music videos in this film were uninteresting, even though they themselves seem to have a point. The style is semi-advant-garde with some nod(or maybe nose thumbing?) towards the ten-year olds that used to watch "The Monkees".
All these flaws I see in the film makes me wonder if some top brass stuck a gun to somebody's head and said "I want you to make a movie with The Monkees in it and I don't care what the movie is about, I don't care what's in it as long as it complies with studio regulations, but you better have Chuck Woolery in it!". It is one thing to simply milk money from fans, but it is another thing to milk money from fans well.
If you have ever been, even a slight bit, interested in The Monkees, whether the episodes from the 1960s or their music or both, I would recommend not watching this movie ever. It proves how bridges should be permanently cremated and, in some cases, should not be re-crossed a long thirty years in the future. Keep your old tapes of the episodes if they are in good shape because there is not anything wrong with just simply looking back at the other side of the cliff.
