Strange Wilderness (2008)

My friends and I have watched this film on countless occasions, gathered around a TV laughing our cares away. I can not exaggerate the impact this film has had on my development as a person and a father. My favourite character is Bill Whitaker, a man who resembles someone we all know and cherish. The story of his struggle with his alcoholism, and his sexuality is both painful and inspiring for the viewer. The comedic value of Johan Hill is inspired, as he replicates the accent and mannerisms of the average Texan perfectly. Peter Dante is another star of the film for me and many others I am sure, his shark attack scene is filmed and acted with ultimate precision. I would know as I have seen a shark attack once, on a cruse holiday in south Africa. A big shark came and ate one of the natives in one bite. The shark made it away with no charge, scott free, highlighting the problems South Africa has with its police and judiciary system. A deeply troubled country that really needs invading and colonising. All in all this is a tale of woe and joy as well as being, possibly one of the greatest films ever created.

When his father dies, Peter inherits "Strange Wilderness," his dad's TV show about animals. After a huge ratings drop, the studio head gives the show two more weeks before he cancels it. An old friend brings a story about Bigfoot, so a long road trip is in order as Peter's team faces competition from a better-funded and more confident set of rivals. Who will find Bigfoot first, and will they get it on tape and save the show....Its a Happy Madison production, so if you know a lot about movies, you should know if that would have you steer clear, or just go with it.I'm okay with the fact that Sandler makes movies that many people just hate, but I for one, do not feel guilty in the fact that I like watching them, because there is nothing serious about them, and they are short, and very, very stupid, just the way I want my escapism movies.This has to be one of the most absurd ones the company has produced yet, and if it wasn't for such a great cast, it's bordering on slightly dull.Zahn has great screen presence, and his performance adds a little class to the proceedings. But then the support is great too, and this is where the film excels. Long is brilliant as the stereotypical stoner, and the funniest set pieces revolve around him, especially the scene where he is questioning a man about his name.It loses its way a little in the middle, the final act, featuring a feature on sharks, is so stupid, you cannot help but to laugh.Its one of the more weaker films from Happy Madison, but I still got something out of it.

Strange wilderness is one of the worst movies I have witnessed to watch. The acting is awful, the direction is way off and the jokes went flat and were completely unfunny. Seeing the comedic talent from the cast, I was expecting something funny, along the lines of Superbad (though not as funny or good), accepted and somewhat grandma's boy. But this was by far worst then all of those films. The plot in this film is ridiculous. It's basically about a guy- Peter (Steve Zahn) trying to keep his father's dream of a televised animal program afloat, which has plummeted in the ratings. Peter come across a map to the home of Bigfoot. Seizing this opportunity, Peter and his crew (Allen Covert, Ashley Scott, Justin Long, Jonah Hill, Kevin Heffernan, Peter Dante) race to the wilds of South America to find Bigfoot, filming their substantial misadventures along the way. I didn't laugh at really anything, maybe a few of the voice overs from the video show (the shark one at the end was actually kinda funny), but apart from that everything else was just annoying, gross, disturbing and awful.

Will it win an award? No.Is it the dumbest god damn thing ever put to celluloid? Probably.Is it also insanely funny? Hell yes.Does it achieve it's goal of making you laugh/killing time while you wait for a pizza to arrive before you watch The Bicycle Thieves or The Third Man? Yeah, and that's how I started watching this movie. My friends and I rented about eight of the best films ever made, then picked this one up because our local video store didn't have a copy of Miller's Crossing.It...rocked. In a night of the greatest movies ever made, we still loved this film for actually accomplishing it's only goal: making you cry with laughter.