Reviewed by Cassam Looch
Stars Steve Zahn, Allen Covert, Jonah Hill, Ashley Scott, Justin Long, Kevin Heffernan, Harry Hamlin,
Jeff Garlin, Robert Patrick, Joe Don Baker, Ernest Borgnine | Written by Peter Gaulke & Fred Wolf
UK certification 15 | UK RRP Rental only | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 80 minutes | Directed by Fred Wolf
In a season of unspeakably bad comedies, the fact that this film raises a couple of laughs means that it’s something of a triumph. It’s one of those films where you are sure that the main protagonists had a hell of a lot more fun making it than we did watching it, and its anorexic plot hardly helps matters. There some particularly nasty scenes that go beyond the realms of gross-out decency and the proven cast is largely wasted ... and yet I can’t hate it because it’s not called Meet The Spartans and doesn’t star Paris Hilton.
A failing TV wildlife programme is about to be yanked of the airwaves. Its star, Peter (Zahn), is the son of a hugely successful pioneer in the field, but times have changed. Along with a group of friends who work as the show's crew (and, inexplicably, a blonde travel agent) Peter sets off to save his reputation. He decides to find and film the legendary Big Foot, but a rival team with a superior budget is hot on their trails. Along the way Peter decides to film a series of small documentaries to hopefully raise some money, but their budget is running out fast and they might not even make it out of the country.
The over-reliance on soft drugs is starting to really become a problem in Hollywood comedies. The "loveable" stoner is a persistent character, cropping up in so many films it has become the norm. Here one of the most likable onscreen actors is wasted (literally) in a non-existent part, which requires nothing from him. Long’s drug-addicted sound editor doesn’t even have any proper jokes, whereas at least Hill (best known for Superbad and Knocked Up) has a couple of one-liners. Not that any of them are funny or anything like that, but at least he’s having a go.
The best bits of the film are definitely the factually flawed archive natural history clips. The narration is genuinely funny in places, and has an energy and quirkiness unfortunately absent in the rest of the film. Zahn’s voiceover is great, and his performance isn’t bad — but its strange to remember this actor once being talked about as a serious Hollywood player. This is by-the-numbers stuff, and unfortunately it just doesn’t add up.
EXTRAS * Behind-the-scenes featurettes including Cooker's Song, The Turkey, What Do We Do and Reel Comedy: Strange Wilderness; and 13 deleted scenes.