Movie Review: Strange Wilderness
Fred Wolf Directs a Raunchy Comedy Starring Steve Zahn
Steve Zahn and Allen Covert star in "Strange Wilderness", a movie about a film crew in search of Bigfoot. Jonah Hill, and Justin Long round out the cast.
It seems that every couple of months there is an R-Rated comedy looking to score with young men. The qualities of these films vary, and are more often than not, bad. “Strange Wilderness” is no exception. In fact, it might be one of the worst ensemble comedies to hit the big screen in years. Unless the viewer is amused by incoherent shouting and turkey fellatio, or happen to be under the influence of herbal enhancements while viewing, they are unlikely to enjoy any part of this sloppy film. Written & Directed by Fred Wolf (Joe Dirt, Dickie Roberts), this film feels improvised throughout, in a bad way.
Morons in Search of Bigfoot
Peter and Fred (Steve Zahn and Allen Covert) have a television show called “Strange Wilderness”. Each episode features the team investigating a different animal, often making raunchy comments about them and their mating habits. As the show is struggling in ratings, the pair decides to go to the Andes in search of Bigfoot. Prior to their departure they enlist a crew including Jonah Hill (The young man from “Superbad” who looks suspiciously like a potato with arms), Kevin Heffernan (of Broken Lizards’ fame), Justin Long (Jeepers Creepers, Live Free and Die Hard), and Ashley Scott (Jericho). As they wander through the wilderness in search of Bigfoot hijinks ensue; often involving the mutilation, or hitting of male genitalia.
A Script That Seems to Have Stemmed From Potheads
This film appears to have been written by a couple of buddies who smoked a lot of pot while watching nature videos. At the time of writing, their commentary about the animals likely seemed amusing to them, but they probably should have reread their material after sobering up. The narrative flow of the film is mostly indecipherable. There appears to be little logic to any actions of the characters, and even less logic surrounding their motivations. Long smokes pot a lot, Heffernan talks about being an alcoholic, Hill hits people in the crotch with a hand buzzer, Zahn yells a lot, and Scott acts like a dippy blonde. That is essentially the extent of the development in this film.
Turkey Fellatio is the High Point
The direction is equally incoherent. Each sequence is filmed without any visual context in mind, and often feels incomplete. Not unlike what might happen if several drunken frat boys filmed their shenanigans at their parents’ cottage over the May-24 weekend. The most creative shot in the film involves multiple parties attempting to pull a turkey off of Zahn’s visibly rubber penis.
Steve Zahn Slums it in this Film
As far as performances are concerned, this film should be an embarrassment to all involved, except perhaps Harry Hamlin, who was likely jazzed to be getting work. Steve Zahn just came off his critically acclaimed performance in Werner Herzog’s “Rescue Dawn”. One can only hope that he was fairly compensated for his “work” in this “film”. Jonah Hill, having just come off of one of the most successful comedies of the year, should have known that a role, which featured a hand buzzer, probably wasn’t going to continue his comedic winning streak.
One of the Worst Films of the Year
It would be difficult to recommend this film to anyone. Except perhaps unshowered teenagers who take great pride in their personally manufactured bongs. "Strange Wilderness" pales in comparison to adequate comedies like "Superbad" and "Knocked Up"
