Spanking the Monkey

Despite claims on the box that this is a comedy, Spanking the Monkey‘s mordant tale of one kid’s summer from hell will be appallingly unpleasant to most casual renters. And that’s to the good: How many movies actually bite harder than they bark? Ray (Davies) returns home from college to his extremely dysfunctional parents, who are convinced, like all such, that they’re perfectly normal. Writer-director David O. Russell observes the little distortions of suburban life — up to and including incest with Mom — with a precision that will wring dark chortles out of anyone whose family drives them crazy. B