A Motormouthed Vince Vaughn Propels Crime Comedy ‘Bad Monkey’ Through Caribbean Waters: TV Review
variety.comAlison Herman TV Critic Florida is forever fertile ground for a chaotic TV crime romp. From “Claws” to “Palm Royale” to “On Becoming a God in Central Florida,” the combination of a laissez-faire approach to law and order with tropical scenery has proved an effective setup for storytelling on the small screen.
The novelist Carl Hiaasen has long specialized in precisely this milieu, making his 2013 book “Bad Monkey” a natural candidate for adaptation.
The result, a 10-episode comedy on Apple TV+, takes the same droll, affectionate attitude toward its colorful characters as Vince Vaughn’s Andrew Yancy, a Keys-based police detective too bemused by his surroundings to get wound up over a messy love life or a floundering career. “Bad Monkey” was developed by Bill Lawrence, the “Scrubs” creator and recent recipient of a blank check from Tim Cook courtesy of “Ted Lasso,” the computer company’s most successful Hollywood venture by far.
Lawrence’s follow-up, “Shrinking,” may have earned a renewal and awards nods, but was to this critic a creative disappointment — more of a tonally muddled “Ted Lasso” rehash than an exciting use of free rein. “Bad Monkey” is not quite a level up in ambition; despite the stacked cast afforded by Apple’s largesse, the show largely takes after Yancy in its smooth, unbothered approach.
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