Monkeybone is a feverish dream -- one minute, it's the story of a cartoonist who shies away from success and the commercialism required to achieve it, the next, it's a about the land between life and death, and its nightmarish inhabitants. Like most dreams, there's not always a coherent plot, but the images are vivid, imaginative and interesting. Directed by Henry Selick, (the man behind The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach) this is a film made by a visual person for visual people. If you fit in that category, you can forgive Monkeybone its flaws, if not, you may be in for a frustrating journey.

When we meet Stu Miley, he's in a hurry to leave the party celebrating the sudden success of his latest cartoon creation, Monkeybone. Monkeybone is, in psychological terms, the physical manifestation of Stu's overbearing, libidinous Id; in layman's terms, he's a naughty monkey. All Stu really wants is to get back to the home he shares with his girlfriend, Julie. All of the preparations have been made for Stu to propose to her when they get home. Unfortunately, fate intervenes, and an accident leaves Stu in a coma before he can pop the question.

Stu's misfortune is the audience's lucky break, because his coma means entrance into Downtown, an alternate universe where you pick up your psychological baggage at the front gates, and enter to find the monsters of the subconscious. One of the favorite pastimes of Downtown's inhabitants is watching, via live feed, the nightmares of the living world's inhabitants. As it turns out, Stu is Downtown's favorite nightmare "auteur" -- but he hasn't produced great nightmares since he met his fiancée Julie, who just happened to be his doctor at the sleep clinic.

At this point, the plot twists and turns over itself at breakneck speed, slowing down only for the visual and slapstick highlights of Monkeybone. Fortunately, there are quite a few of these moments, but at times they feel crammed in.

For the most part, the special effects are the big stars. Brendan Fraser's Stu pretty blah at first, but he gets to play half of the film as a monkey in a man's body, and his talent at physical humor gets to take main stage. Particularly funny is his bizarre monkey-man mating ritual with Julie. Steve Oedenkirk, Dave Foley, and particularly Chris Kattan get their share of great comedic scenes, too.

The female costars don't do as well. Poor Bridget Fonda's white bread heroine, Julie, is so one-dimensional she's occasionally upstaged by her hair. As one of the only friendly inhabitants of Downtown, Rose McGowan's Kitty is entirely upstaged by her breasts. Stu's eager-to-pull-the-plug sister is played by "Will and Grace"'s Megan Mullally, who does a warmed-over version of her TV character so mystifying she could have been named "Plot Device" in the end credits. Whoopi Goldberg is cast as Death, whose big laugh comes when her head explodes. (Personally, I would have made Harry Knowles Death, since he also makes a cameo -- it would be much more fun to see his head explode.)

Let's see, that just leaves Monkeybone himself, voiced by John Turturro (apparently on helium). For a character supposedly so entertaining that he's getting his own show, he's a letdown. The bad news: Monkeybone is a dizzying series of bizarre visual images and talented actors doing funny skits. The good news: the special effects are the best and weirdest you'll see in many a film, and the funniest scenes are worth the price of admission. Just be expecting a cartoon, not a masterpiece.