Events Calendar
In This Section
Most Read Stories
Police accuse bank robbery suspect of gobbling up note (with dashcam video)
Victim of beating in Kent last week is declared dead at Akron hospital
Akron man killed in crash on his street
Can DNA tests free ex-Akron captain?
Browns find another way to lose
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Blogs:
Pets:
Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
The Heldenfiles:
Sunday Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
Browns sick after sick loss in Detroit
Akron Zips:
Zips advance to Sweet Sixteen
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Post-game defensive quotes
Kent State Sports:
Kent State defeats Rochester College, 63-44
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
The Sunday Sanity Challenge
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (70) Savings in Medicare Advantage
See Jane Style:
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Faye Dunaway to be Evicted?
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Monique asks how to get tickets for the Polar Express.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Personal Rant – You are All Wrong About Jobs, or the Lack of Jobs, Being the Reason People Do Not Live in NEO
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
'Strange Wilderness' is just a sloppy stoner comedy that isn't very funny. For most, it's a gross bummer
By Ty Burr
Boston Globe
Published on Wednesday, Feb 06, 2008
By far the funniest part of Strange Wilderness is the trailer for Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay that's running before it. There are stupid stoner comedies and then there are stupid stoner comedies that ain't funny, and the latest effluvium from Adam Sandler's Happy Madison production company is mostly a bummer.
Steve Zahn had a good 2007 — he came this close to an Oscar nomination for Rescue Dawn — but the new year finds him working as a second-tier Owen Wilson. His character, Pete, the son of a late, beloved wildlife-show host, is running dad's program into cancellation with the mismanagement of soundman-partner Fred (Allen Covert) and crew members Cooker (Jonah Hill) and Danny (Peter Dante).
The problem is that they don't know the first thing about animals and they're too stoned to find out. A tip to the whereabouts of Bigfoot sends them to Ecuador (played by what appears to be locations in greater Los Angeles) along with a perky travel agent (Ashley Scott), a burned-out cameraman (Justin Long), and an alcoholic animal handler (Kevin Heffernan).
The movie's an almost painless frat boys' night out, and the target audience will recognize the cast from other, better dude-comedies. Covert had a college hit with Grandma's Boy a few years back, but that was a lot less desperate than this one, if just as sloppy. Hill, riding high with Knocked Up and Superbad, talks in a strange hillbilly accent and sticks a joy-buzzer into the other characters' crotches whenever he can.
The appearance of Harry Hamlin as a rival host tugs Strange Wilderness in the direction of a real movie. The appearance of Ernest Borgnine as an old-time TV cameraman, giving Pete a pep talk while the latter sucks down a righteous bowl, puts it firmly back into the surreal.
I laughed a few times, mostly at Pete's buzzed nature-show voice-overs: ''Bears derive their name from a football team in Chicago,'' and so forth. Every time Strange Wilderness starts working up a genial vibe, though, it gets brought down by the ramshackle complacency of the script by Peter Gaulke and director Fred Wolf. They've named the main characters after themselves — whoa, meta — and when they get bored after 87-odd minutes the movie just nods out.
The probable high point (nudge, wink) is the bit where an enraged wild turkey becomes fastened on Zahn deep-throat style and the others have to beat it off. (Nudge. Wink.) Let that serve as recommendation for devotees of gross-out yuks and a warning to everyone else. Me, I'm holding out for Harold and Kumar.
By far the funniest part of Strange Wilderness is the trailer for Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay that's running before it. There are stupid stoner comedies and then there are stupid stoner comedies that ain't funny, and the latest effluvium from Adam Sandler's Happy Madison production company is mostly a bummer.
Get the full article here.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
