I thought I knew all the Monk episodes well, but this sweet surprise was waiting for me one afternoon when I needed it most. If only the followup film could have packed this much, well, everything. I laughed, I cried, then I cried from laughing so hard.
Stanley Tucci's friendship with Shaloub may be the reason, but they are magic together. I was doing some paperwork when I looked up and saw the scene where character David Ruskin (ultimate "method actor" played by Tucci) is meeting privately with Monk on a sofa in semidarkness. Ruskin is trying to get "into Monk's head" in order to better play him in a film about one of his cases. What the two of them accomplish, is bring us to tears (again for some, I'm sure). Amazing. And that was just the beginning of my awe at this episode.
When the perp of an accidental killing that opens the show is in a scene in a used car showroom with both Monk and Ruskin/Tucci (made up to look like Monk for the filming) there are true belly laughs as well. When Tucci who can't seem to get "out of character" and Monk try to smooth out the sale label on the windshield of a VW Beetle with the heel of the gun that is needed to subdue to perplexed perp, I teared from laughing so hard. This is a Monk for the ages, best viewed by those fully familiar with (and a fan of) the Monk character's painful past. For those folks, its a must.
Stanley Tucci's friendship with Shaloub may be the reason, but they are magic together. I was doing some paperwork when I looked up and saw the scene where character David Ruskin (ultimate "method actor" played by Tucci) is meeting privately with Monk on a sofa in semidarkness. Ruskin is trying to get "into Monk's head" in order to better play him in a film about one of his cases. What the two of them accomplish, is bring us to tears (again for some, I'm sure). Amazing. And that was just the beginning of my awe at this episode.
When the perp of an accidental killing that opens the show is in a scene in a used car showroom with both Monk and Ruskin/Tucci (made up to look like Monk for the filming) there are true belly laughs as well. When Tucci who can't seem to get "out of character" and Monk try to smooth out the sale label on the windshield of a VW Beetle with the heel of the gun that is needed to subdue to perplexed perp, I teared from laughing so hard. This is a Monk for the ages, best viewed by those fully familiar with (and a fan of) the Monk character's painful past. For those folks, its a must.