(1 rating)
Write a review
Given two weeks to improve their wildlife TV show or get canceled, “Strange Wilderness” host Peter Gaulke (Steve Zahn), soundman Fred Wolf (Allen Covert) and a random group of idiots (including Justin Long and Jonah Hill) venture into the jungle to find Bigfoot. The movie is written by, chuckle chuckle, “Saturday Night Live” writers Peter Gaulke and Fred Wolf, who also directed.
Big question: Is the latest stoner comedy from Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison production company mildly funny for viewers who aren’t half-baked?
Skip it: Maturity obviously is not required to make or see these movies, but would anyone really admit to laughing at a turkey biting a man’s penis? Among other sights not welcome to anyone who values their eyes is Hill wearing a thong or a Farrelly Brothers-style close-up of a war vet’s (Robert Patrick) crotch-related injury.
Catch it: To learn that dentists’ offices don’t carry Penthouse, that salmon-on-bear attacks are less frequent than bear-on-salmon attacks and that “Monkeys make up over 80% of the world’s monkey population.” It made me laugh but, hey, either you’re in the mood for this kind of thing or you’re not.
Bottom line: Zahn knows how to be an idiot without being a pest, something that can’t be said for Hill or Long. “Strange Wilderness” mostly substitutes stupidity for anything strange or wild though, with an overall mellow tone that won’t do much for anyone who enjoyed the zippy high of “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.”
Bonus: Afterwards a fellow moviegoer raved on the phone, “S*** just happens, and they don’t explain anything!” What more needs to be said?
What do you think of "Strange Wilderness"? Email me: mpais@tribune.com