Ed
A buddy comedy with big groans, potty humor, and drinking.
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this movie.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Ed is a family comedy that's largely an innocuous, if immature, buddy flick that relies near-exclusively on potty humor (read: fart jokes) and the wacky hijinks of an animatronic chimpanzee to garner laughs. The profanity is mild but recurring, but the trickier question the movie raises for parents is the presence of a scene that includes drinking and an attempt at drunk driving that is played for comedy, with no explicit consequences. In another potentially problematic scene, the main character "Deuce" lies, steals a truck, and uses violence to resolve conflict, in the service of doing the right thing to rescue his friend.
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What's the Story?
A talented, ambitious minor-league pitcher named Jack Cooper (Matt LeBlanc), AKA "Deuce," with an unfortunate propensity for choking during games is enlisted to babysit the new team mascot, a chimpanzee, Ed (Jay Caputo), with a mind for mischief and a little baseball talent himself. Along the way, Deuce learns about baseball, friendship, and luck.
Is It Any Good?
This challengingly cheesy comedy is long on fart jokes and short on charm. The animatronic, mechanical monkey and more than one supporting character are as cornball as it gets, and the recurring bathroom humor and monkey-acts-like-a-monkey jokes get tedious fast. It is no surprise that this flick received a whopping four Razzies in its heyday.
Nonetheless, kids of any age (and some adults) will likely delight at the armpit flatulence, flatulence competitions, and general silliness (read: flatulence) of the chimpanzee. However, parents will need to make a judgment call on how to handle the scene of drinking and attempted drunk driving that is no better resolved by having the chimp take the wheel. But assuming that's a challenge worth taking, the adults suffering through this misguided romp can enjoy passing the time by debating the merits of LeBlanc's first big feature just after his success on Friends, early career appearances by actors like Jim Cavaziel, or Tommy Lasorda as himself. You take what you can get.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about whether Deuce's actions, which include lying, stealing, and resorting to violence, are justified in the service of helping his friend. Is it OK to do something wrong if the outcome is right?
The drinking in the movie is played mostly for laughs. What would be the real-life consequences of driving drunk or showing up to work hungover?
How did Deuce's friendship with Ed, the chimpanzee, change over the course of the movie?
Movie Details
- In theaters: March 15, 1996
- On DVD or streaming: July 1, 2003
- Cast: Bill Cobbs, Jack Warden, Jay Caputo, Jayne Brook, Matt LeBlanc
- Director: Bill Couturie
- Studio: Universal Studios
- Genre: Family and Kids
- Topics: Sports and Martial Arts, Friendship
- Run time: 95 minutes
- MPAA rating: PG
- MPAA explanation: Rated PG for language, crude humor and brief mild violence
- Last updated: March 2, 2023
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