| Jungle 2 Jungle | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | John Pasquin |
| Produced by | Richard Baker Brad Krevoy |
| Written by | Bruce A. Evans Raynold Gideon |
| Starring | Tim Allen Martin Short Sam Huntington Lolita Davidovich David Ogden Stiers JoBeth Williams |
| Music by | Michael Convertino |
| Cinematography | Tony Pierce-Roberts |
| Editing by | Michael A. Stevenson |
| Studio | TF1 Films MPCA |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Pictures |
| Release date(s) | March 7, 1997 |
| Running time | 105 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $32 million |
| Box office | $59,927,618 |
Jungle 2 Jungle is a 1997 comedy feature film starring Tim Allen, Martin Short and Sam Huntington. It is an American remake of the 1994 French film Un indien dans la ville (also known as Little Indian, Big City). Jungle 2 Jungle's plot follows the original film fairly closely. The film was directed by John Pasquin, and produced by Walt Disney Pictures and TF1 Films Productions.
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Michael Cromwell (Tim Allen) is a self-absorbed, successful commodities broker living in New York City. Wanting to marry his new fiance Charlotte (Lolita Davidovich), he needs to obtain a final divorce from his first wife, Patricia (Jobeth Williams), who left him some years earlier. Patricia now lives with a semi-Westernised tribe in Canaima National Park, Venezuela. Michael travels there to get her signature on divorce papers, but, upon arriving, discovers he has a 13-year-old son, Mimi-Siku (Sam Huntington).
Michael attempts to bond with Mimi-Siku in his brief stay with the tribe, and promises to take him to New York 'when he is a man'. That night, Mimi-Siku undergoes the tradition rite of passage of his tribe, who then consider him to be a man. The tribal elder gives Mimi a special task, to allow him to become a tribal leader one day. Mimi must bring fire from the Statue of Liberty, and looks forward to traveling with his father. Against his protests, Michael brings Mimi-Siku to New York with him.
Michael's fiancee, Charlotte, is less than pleased about the unexpected visitor, particularly at his loin cloth outfit, and trying to urinate in front of her at the fake tree (as his usual in his tribe), suggests eating her cat and releases his enormous pet tarantula in her apartment. Mimi-Siku wears traditional dress during much of his stay in New York. As Michael attempts to adapt Mimi-Siku to city life, cross-cultural misunderstandings occur when Mimi-Siku reverts to customs considered acceptable by his tribe. On climbing the Statue of Liberty to reach the flame, Mimi-Siku is disappointed when he sees that the fire is not real.
While staying at the home of Michael's partner, Richard Kempster (Martin Short) Mimi-Siku falls in love with Richard's daughter, Karen (Leelee Sobieski). He paints her face, and gives her a new name, Oo-Ku-Mai, as is the custom in his tribe. Richard is unhappy about Mimi's presence in his home because of his influence over Karen and cooking and eating his prize-winning fish. He freaks out when he sees Mimi and Karen together in a hammock and threatens to send her to an all-girls summer camp.
The Kempsters and Michael Cromwell are being targeted by Jovanovic (David Ogden Stiers), a Russian mobster and caviar dealer, who believes that they have cheated him in a business deal. Jovanovic arrives at the Kempsters', intent on removing Richard's fingers in revenge. By fighting together and utilizing Mimi-Siku's hunting skills (and spider) the two families defeat the mobsters.
Mimi-Siku returns to the Amazon jungle, but before he leaves, his father gives him a satellite phone, so they can stay in touch. Michael also presents Mimi with a Statue of Liberty cigarette lighter, which produces fire from the torch and will fulfill Mimi's quest. In return, Mimi gives his father a blowpipe and poisoned darts, telling Michael to practice and come to see him when he can hit flies.
Shortly afterwards, Michael finds himself disheartened by the rat-race and realises that his relationship with Charlotte is not working for him anymore. He attempts to kill a fly with his blowpipe, on the trading floor of the New York Board of Trade. He hits the fly, but also his boss, who collapses asleep on the trading floor.
Michael returns to Lipo-Lipo to see his son and ex-wife, bringing the Kempster family with him for a vacation. Karen and Mimi are reunited, and it is implied that Michael and Patricia also resume their relationship.
Jungle 2 Jungle is an American remake of the successful French movie Un indien dans la ville (Little Indian, Big City). The plot follows the original fairly closely, except that the original was set in Paris rather than New York, and Mimi-Siku climbed the Eiffel Tower rather than the Statue of Liberty.
Jungle 2 Jungle was the 7th highest grossing PG-rated movie of 1997, taking in about $59.9 million in the US.
Despite its modestly successful box office intake the film received very poor critical reviews. Roger Ebert, who deplored the original French version Little Indian, Big City during its release in the United States confessed that he was hoping the Americanized remake would be better than the original French version due to it starring Tim Allen and Martin Short, whom he had somewhat admired as comedic actors. Ebert was sorely disappointed by the film however rewarding it only one star, a mild step from his original Zero Stars rating for Little Indian, Big City.[1] On his television program, Siskel and Ebert, Ebert had said Jungle 2 Jungle was not as bad as Little Indian, Big City because it was "far too mediocre to be terrible." He also described it as "lamebrained, boring, predictable, long, and slow" and said while the French version was memorably bad Jungle 2 Jungle was "just forgettable". Ebert's colleague Gene Siskel mildly disagreed saying that he felt Jungle 2 Jungle was just as bad as Little Indian, Big City. He also said he felt embarrassed for Tim Allen and Martin Short as he felt they were used far better in other television programs and films.[2] Siskel later went on to declare this as the worst film of 1997.
It currently holds an 20% "rotten" rating on the critical review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes.[3]
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