Vince Vaughn has made a career of playing characters like Bad Monkey’s Andrew Yancy: wisecracking cynics who seamlessly switch between sarcastic one-liners and charming missives. It’s the kind of role Vaughn can play in his sleep, but his crackling performance in this new Apple TV+ series suggests an actor giving maximum effort. Adapted by Bill Lawrence from Carl Hiaasen's 2013 bestseller of the same name, Bad Monkey sees the co-creator of Ted Lasso and Shrinking gathering another group of misfits and oddballs in an entertaining, if not scattered, crime comedy that kicks off with the discovery of a severed arm with its middle finger extended.
Set in the Florida Keys, Miami, and Andros (the largest island in the Bahamas), Bad Monkey takes advantage of these vibrant locales – they play an integral role in the motives of the heroes and villains. Yancy may be a former Miami detective who’s now working in the Keys as a health inspector, but this is a self-inflicted downgrade – and it isn't all bad. Although his current job is unfulfilling, the view from his oceanside house has a nurturing and therapeutic effect.
While the disgraced detective is described as "consistently reckless, inappropriate, and glib," he does have a softer side: He’s so deeply connected to nature, he lights the outside of his home with red bulbs to help guide baby turtles back to the surf. It’s the classic gruff exterior/heart of gold combo, meaning Yancy doesn’t fall too far into asshole terr.