MVP: Most Valuable Primate

MVP: Most Valuable Primate is a 2000 feature film that sparked the MVP franchise. The film's title character, Jack, is a chimpanzee.

Plot

The plot revolves around an ape playing sports. Jack is a three-year-old chimpanzee who is the subject of an experiment involving sign language that is performed by Dr. Kendall. However, Dr. Kendall loses funding for his research and Kendall's boss, Mr. Peabody, sells Jack to a medical research lab, much to Dr. Kendall's dismay. Unfortunately, Dr. Kendall dies (off screen) from a heart attack. Kendall had set up Jack to be taken away from the lab, but Jack was sent to Canada by mistake. In Canada, Jack finds shelter in a tree house but a young deaf girl named Tara enters the tree house and Jack surprises her causing her to faint; when Tara wakes up she learns he can use sign language, she attempts to hide Jack from her parents and brother Steven but is unsuccessful . Steven soon discovers that Jack has an uncanny ability to play the sport of ice hockey and Jack joins Steven's junior league hockey team when it is discovered that there is no rule that chimpanzees can't play hockey. However, just before the championship, Dr. Peabody returns to reclaim Jack.

Sequels

The movie generated one theater-released sequel and one direct-to-video sequel. In each film, Jack learns to play a different sport.

Films

The following is a list of the films in the series:

• MVP: Most Valuable Primate (2000)
• MVP 2: Most Vertical Primate (2001)
• MXP: Most Xtreme Primate (2003)

Cast

• Russell Ferrier – Darren
• Lomax Study – Dr. Kendall
• Kevin Zegers – Steven Westover
• Jamie Renée Smith – Tara Westover
• Alexa Fox – Jane
• Jane Sowerby – Julie Beston
• Ingrid Tesch – Susie Westover
• Philip Granger – Mark Westover
• Rick Ducommon – Coach Marlow
• Bernie, Mack, and Louie – Jack
• Oliver Muirhead – Dr. Peabody
• Alexander Ludwig – child

Title

MVP was the working title of the 1997 film Air Bud, but the subtitle was Most Valuable Pooch, not Most Valuable Primate. Air Bud shares the same producers and they both star Kevin Zegers. Both films feature similar plots about an animal who can play sports, and they each spawned a number of sequels in which the title animal plays a different sport in each.

Reception

The film received mixed to negative reviews. It currently holds a 20% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, indicating "Rotten".

References

1. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0196106/business
2. ↑ http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mostvaluableprimate.htm

External links

• MVP: Most Valuable Primate at the Internet Movie Database
• MVP: Most Valuable Primate at AllMovie