When a fake film critic helped sell a real, mediocre 2001 comedy movie

Entertainment · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: The 2001 comedy The Animal features a police clerk who gains superhuman abilities after receiving animal organ transplants. While the film was a box office success, it became infamous for a marketing scandal involving a fabricated critic, revealing the lengths studios once went to manufacture positive buzz for mediocre releases.

Directed by Luke Greenfield, The Animal follows Marvin Mange, an evidence clerk who dreams of becoming a police officer but is repeatedly held back by physical limitations. After a near-fatal car accident, he is saved by a scientist named Dr. Wilder, who replaces his damaged organs with animal parts. This procedure grants Marvin extraordinary physical prowess and keen instincts, allowing him to excel on the force. However, the surgery comes with a chaotic side effect: Marvin begins to experience uncontrollable animalistic urges, leading to public embarrassment and suspicion when he is wrongly blamed for a series of brutal attacks.

The film, produced by Revolution Studios and Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions, was released on June 1, 2001. Despite a production budget of $47 million, it grossed over $84 million internationally. Critical reception was largely unfavorable, with Rotten Tomatoes reporting a 30% approval rating and Metacritic assigning it a score of 43 out of 100. Critics like Peter Travers of Rolling Stone dismissed it as an Adam Sandler reject, while others, such as Robert Koehler of Variety, noted that while the film was undeniably stupid, it managed to deliver a certain level of goofiness.

The most enduring legacy of the film’s release is the David Manning scandal. Sony Pictures used a fictitious critic named David Manning to provide glowing blurbs for advertisements. When the ruse was exposed in late 2001, Sony claimed the inclusion of the fake critic was an accidental error by a layout artist who had used dummy text in print designs. This marketing deception remains a notable footnote in Hollywood history. More than two decades later, in October 2022, a sequel was announced, with Rob Schneider set to direct and star in a project intended for streaming release on Tubi.

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