Strange Wilderness
by Fred Wolf
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DVD details
Actor: Allen Covert, Jonah Hill, Justin Long, Kevin Heffernan, Steve ZahnDirector: Fred Wolf
Brand: PARAMOUNT PICTURES
Writer: Fred Wolf
Writer: Peter Gaulke
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 87 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-05-20
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Paramount
DVD Reviews of Strange Wilderness
DVD Review: I'd Rather Be Lost In The Wilderness
Summary: 3 Stars
Fred Wolf's directorial debut, Strange Wilderness, was pushed back time and again before it finally had its theatrical release, however short-lived it may have been. Surrounded by a hapless crew, a barebones script, and low viewership, the plot (or lack thereof) of Strange Wilderness self-reflexively, and perhaps inadvertently, sheds some light on what went wrong with the film in general. When Peter Gaulke (Steve Zahn)'s attempt to carry on his father's "in the wild" reality show faces cancellation, he sets out to find Bigfoot in order to boost ratings. While Peter and his friends certainly aren't making quality programming, they do share quite a few laughs along the way. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Wolf's film, which drags out crude inside jokes, interspersed with random animal footage equally crudely voiced-over, and just leaves the audience wishing they were lost in the wilderness.
What was once seen as a clever, little tongue-in-cheek plot device of a show within a show, simultaneously mirroring and mocking the entertainment industry, has just become tired after so many repeated usages, and Strange Wilderness, in turn, is a stale formula. Furthermore, with a cast of improv comedic greats like Jonah Hill and Justin Long, Strange Wilderness had the potential to boast some classic one-liners, genuine laugh out-loud moments, and awkward pausing, but unfortunately it falls short on all but the latter. Instead, Wolf keeps Hill, Long, and others like Peter Dante and Kevin Heffernan in the background; they are barely even supporting players, as their characters' moments don't add anything to push the plot along but instead seem more like desperate filler than anything substantial. Side anecdotes, like Heffernan's character's alcoholism, reveal themselves presumably for more laughs (because they certainly don't add another dimension to the characters!) but end up just being awfully, tragically unfunny and awfully redundant... or maybe they're just plain awful. In general, Strange Wilderness suffers by not being nearly as snappy as one has come to expect from a slacker comedy, and in its best moments, only induces weak chuckling.
Both "Strange Wilderness," the fictional reality show and Strange Wilderness, the movie, rely on the token hot girl (Cheryl, portrayed by Ashley Scott), as well as physical humor (animals mating in the former and stoned falls in the latter) to keep people interested. Scott, for her credit, manages to hold her own amidst the testosterone-- even if it is a question mark as to why she'd want to get involved with these perpetual screw-ups in the first place-- but she often gets swallowed up in the mess and her dialogue cut out, as is evidenced by some of the extended and deleted scenes on the DVD.
Description of Strange Wilderness
Animal enthusiast Peter Gaulke (Steve Zahn) and his sidekick Fred Wolf (Allen Covert) host an ailing wildlife TV show "Strange Wilderness," which is in a steep ratings decline. Desperate to save the show, Peter hatches a Hail Mary scheme to find the one animal that could truly turn the show around and change the nature-show landscape forever ? Bigfoot.As lunkhead comedies go, Strange Wilderness never creates the necessary frisson to keep a viewer engaged by the film?s endless parade of marijuana jokes, gross-out sight gags, and celebrations of rank stupidity. Which is too bad, because the cast would be ideal for a smarter version of a stupid movie, but they come off as largely wasted here. Steve Zahn (That Thing You Do) plays Peter Gaulke, heir to a wild animal television program called "Strange Wilderness," but too out of it to keep up his late father?s congenial yet focused legacy. With the show?s ratings plummeting (even at a 3 a.m. broadcast time), Peter attempts to rescue the series by traveling to Ecuador in search of Bigfoot. Accompanied by a crew of idiots (Allen Covert, Jonah Hill, Justin Long) and one comely lass (Ashley Scott of TV?s Jericho), Peter heads into one obstacle after another: sharks, piranha, pygmies, Mexican border guards, a crazy tracker (Robert Patrick), and a nitrous high. After awhile, the lowbrow hijinks all run together and one feels a bit trapped, desperately awaiting final credits. But there are a couple of recurring comic ideas that salvage the movie somewhat, especially the use of stock footage of animals accompanied by Peter?s absurd voiceovers. ("The shark can be found only in two places: the northern and southern hemispheres.") --Tom Keogh
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