Brendan Fraser comes up to bat in his third primate-related cinema experience in the new film Monkeybone.

Life seems to be in an upswing for Stu Miley (Fraser). He has a hit comic strip that is soon to become an animated cartoon and marketing franchise, and a girlfriend that he cares for deeply.

Stu really isn’t interested in turning his Monkeybone character into a melange of items from lunch boxes to video games, but his manager, Herb (Dave Foley), is insistent upon squeezing every penny out of the character.

On the way home from the premiere party, Stu and his girlfriend Julie have an accident. Hit on the head, Stu slips into a coma, which leads him into a pseudo-nightmare reality. This is where he meets a live version of the Monkeybone character he created.

After spending some time in this strange world, Stu finds a way out, but Monkeybone betrays him and steals his body. Now Stu must find another way out in order to stop Monkeybone from ruining everything.

Fraser needs to lose the primate theme that resurfaces throughout his career. In the beginning, there was Encino Man in which Fraser played a cave man virtually brought back from the dead. Then came George of the Jungle, where Fraser played a bumbling buffoon version of Tarzan.

Through these and a few other assorted films, it has been established that Fraser just isn’t meant for comedy. His talent lies in more drama-related roles such as the character he played in Gods and Monsters.

For Bridget Fonda, the role of Stu’s girlfriend is just another rung on the ladder in her more recent trend as a second fiddle. The best performance is delivered by the nuances of Stu’s manager, played by Foley of Kids in the Hall fame.

The film does contain an overall dark tone but fails to deliver on the comedy aspect it promises.

The latter part of the film attempts to turn itself into more of a romantic comedy rather than a visit into one man’s ludicrous psyche, and this is where everything takes a nosedive for the worst.

The premise of Monkeybone might be able to work as either a romantic comedy or a dark comedy, but it becomes very obvious that the creators can’t have their cake and eat it too.

Monkeybone is now playing at the Carmike Wynnsong 16, Regal Knoxville Center 10 and Halls Cinema 7.

Rating: C-