Stoner flick lacks spark
Published Feb. 5, 2008
Like the pot-smoking characters that meander on to the screen, “Strange Wilderness” is a film that’s half-baked and disoriented. Adam Sandler’s notoriously unfunny Happy Madison production company offers up a brainless exercise in hit or miss comedy.
While I sadly admit that “Grandma’s Boy” offered brief glimpses of entertainment, “Strange Wilderness” is purely underwhelming. All the components, from acting to directing to writing, refuse to mesh in this cluttered stoner flick.
Wildlife enthusiast Peter Gaulke (Steve Zahn) and his misfit crew of filmmakers find their television show on the verge of cancellation. The team decides that the only way to save their show is to travel to South America and get footage of the mythical Bigfoot.
However, instead of using the flora and fauna as another character (à la “The Life Aquatic”), “Strange Wilderness” relies heavily on the drugged out antics of its cast to get the majority of the laughs. Whether it’s confusing a snake for a porcupine or making fun of a man named Dick, “Strange Wilderness”’ humor is cheap at best. Many of the arguably funny actors (Zahn, Jonah Hill, Justin Long) are reduced and pigeonholed into nothing more than cursing, bumbling fools.
Zahn especially disappoints, spending most of his screen time flailing and screaming in a sad attempt at physical comedy. Hill, Zahn and Long are at their finest when deadpanning and bantering. The trio just can’t pull off slapstick.
The production values of “Strange Wilderness” are incredibly lacking and extremely mediocre. While one isn’t expecting quality to be at the forefront of a movie like this, “Strange Wilderness” is absurdly amateur in its concept and design.
The outdoor wilderness shown on screen looks like it was shot in director Fred Wolf’s backyard. It wouldn’t be out of the question to think that this movie was thrown together over a drunken weekend.
While you could argue that the B-level caliber is intentional, it’s done to such a poor degree that it hardly registers as a clever gimmick. Give “Strange Wilderness” credit, though. The filmmakers pull off an incredible feat by creating a bottom dweller in a genre that includes “Dude, Where’s My Car” and “Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle.” A stoner flick shouldn’t require drug use to get enjoyment, but with movies like “Strange Wilderness,” audiences will need to smoke marijuana at comatose levels for laughs. In the end, “Strange Wilderness” is just one bad trip.