The Sasquatch Gang
The Sasquatch Gang ***
Directed by Tim Skousen
Written by Tim Skousen
Starring:
Jeremy Sumpter as Gavin Gore
Justin Long as Zerk Wilder
Addie Land as Sophie Suchowski
Carl Weathers as Dr. Artimus Snodgrass
Rob Pinkston as Maynard Keyes
Joey Kern as Shirts
Hubbel Palmer as Hobie Plumber
Michael Mitchell as Shane Bagwell
Jeff D'Agostino as Dagan
Jon Gries as Officer Ed Chillcut
86 Minutes(Rated PG-13 for crude humor and language. )
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Sasquatch Gang" is a film for those with an acquired taste. It's dry in that "Eagle vs. Shark" kind of way, random in that "Blades of Glory" kind of way, and it focuses on the sub-category of those nerds and geeks that just make the whole world go round, in that "Napolean Dynamite" kind of way. In fact, it's a mesh of all three of those movies-so if you got enjoyment out of more than one of them, this is the film for you. Yet if you despise even one of them, so see something else. This film has producers from 'Napolean Dynamite" involved, yet at the end of the day, the reason why nobody will see "The Sasquatch Gang" is being it just wasn't as highly wanted at Sundance-no bidding wars were involved in the distribution of this motion picture. It's playing now in New York City, but will probably be around for about a week. And it's a shame, because it really does have some laughs, and it quite entertaining.
Told in non-linear fashion, "The Sasquatch Gang" gets deeply involving when the nerdish Gavin and his two equally nerdish friends Hobie and Shane are walking in the woods. When they find a bunch of footprints and a large piece of feces, they are convinced that they have found evidence of Sasquatch-or you may know him as Bigfoot. They report it to the police, who decide to get famous Sasquatch expert Artimus Snodgrass to come in and investigate. It turns out that the footprints were really left by slacker Zerk and his friend Shirts (who ironically speaks in a high pitched voice, and doesn't wear a shirt. But then again, nobody in his family does.) Zerk owes a thousand dollars to the bank, and comes up with the idea of faking a Bigfoot sighting to sell memorabilia on an eBay like website (here just called "Auctions) and then make some quick dough. And then we get a little live story between the equally nerdish Sophie, who is convinced that she's overweight, and gets her jaws wired shut so that she'll stop eating.
There are quite a few funny moments here-and one of my favorite subplots involves the nerdish and overweight Hobie getting angry at friend Gavin because he feels like Gavin's getting all the Sasquatch glory, and he's even getting a girl to boot. A scene where he writes an angry entry in his diary is still making me laugh. I did enjoy the non-linear storytelling method-we see scenes from several different characters point of view, which means that there are constant surprises to be had. But what makes the film work is writer/director Tim Skousen's compassion for these characters. Sure he makes some of them goofy and dimwitted, but there is never a moment where we're laughing at them. He gives them all such likable qualities that we are just simply having a great time watching them. Take a scene at the very beginning of the movie, where Gavin and his two friends are playing Excalibur, a game involve capes, giant foam weapons, and a rather odd song playing on a radio. In a lesser film they would be made for us to make fun of and look down on-instead we see them just as equals. Just a bunch of friends having a good time with one another, and it sets the tone for the rest of the movie perfectly.
Lastly the love story still feels fresh-this is more of an "Eagle vs Shark" meets "Napolean Dynamite" type love story, but its nicely done and very sweet even. A quirky and whimsical score works perfectly in the context of the film (although the whimsical music in "King of California" is just a notch better, because it works out of context as well), and overall "The Sasquatch Gang" is a perfect film for those will a knack for random and offbeat humor. This is certainly one of those movies that could gain a cult following if its even seen, and it should be. It's fun.
"The Sasquatch Gang" could be found at the Village East in New York City.
Directed by Tim Skousen
Written by Tim Skousen
Starring:
Jeremy Sumpter as Gavin Gore
Justin Long as Zerk Wilder
Addie Land as Sophie Suchowski
Carl Weathers as Dr. Artimus Snodgrass
Rob Pinkston as Maynard Keyes
Joey Kern as Shirts
Hubbel Palmer as Hobie Plumber
Michael Mitchell as Shane Bagwell
Jeff D'Agostino as Dagan
Jon Gries as Officer Ed Chillcut
86 Minutes(Rated PG-13 for crude humor and language. )
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Sasquatch Gang" is a film for those with an acquired taste. It's dry in that "Eagle vs. Shark" kind of way, random in that "Blades of Glory" kind of way, and it focuses on the sub-category of those nerds and geeks that just make the whole world go round, in that "Napolean Dynamite" kind of way. In fact, it's a mesh of all three of those movies-so if you got enjoyment out of more than one of them, this is the film for you. Yet if you despise even one of them, so see something else. This film has producers from 'Napolean Dynamite" involved, yet at the end of the day, the reason why nobody will see "The Sasquatch Gang" is being it just wasn't as highly wanted at Sundance-no bidding wars were involved in the distribution of this motion picture. It's playing now in New York City, but will probably be around for about a week. And it's a shame, because it really does have some laughs, and it quite entertaining.
Told in non-linear fashion, "The Sasquatch Gang" gets deeply involving when the nerdish Gavin and his two equally nerdish friends Hobie and Shane are walking in the woods. When they find a bunch of footprints and a large piece of feces, they are convinced that they have found evidence of Sasquatch-or you may know him as Bigfoot. They report it to the police, who decide to get famous Sasquatch expert Artimus Snodgrass to come in and investigate. It turns out that the footprints were really left by slacker Zerk and his friend Shirts (who ironically speaks in a high pitched voice, and doesn't wear a shirt. But then again, nobody in his family does.) Zerk owes a thousand dollars to the bank, and comes up with the idea of faking a Bigfoot sighting to sell memorabilia on an eBay like website (here just called "Auctions) and then make some quick dough. And then we get a little live story between the equally nerdish Sophie, who is convinced that she's overweight, and gets her jaws wired shut so that she'll stop eating.
There are quite a few funny moments here-and one of my favorite subplots involves the nerdish and overweight Hobie getting angry at friend Gavin because he feels like Gavin's getting all the Sasquatch glory, and he's even getting a girl to boot. A scene where he writes an angry entry in his diary is still making me laugh. I did enjoy the non-linear storytelling method-we see scenes from several different characters point of view, which means that there are constant surprises to be had. But what makes the film work is writer/director Tim Skousen's compassion for these characters. Sure he makes some of them goofy and dimwitted, but there is never a moment where we're laughing at them. He gives them all such likable qualities that we are just simply having a great time watching them. Take a scene at the very beginning of the movie, where Gavin and his two friends are playing Excalibur, a game involve capes, giant foam weapons, and a rather odd song playing on a radio. In a lesser film they would be made for us to make fun of and look down on-instead we see them just as equals. Just a bunch of friends having a good time with one another, and it sets the tone for the rest of the movie perfectly.
Lastly the love story still feels fresh-this is more of an "Eagle vs Shark" meets "Napolean Dynamite" type love story, but its nicely done and very sweet even. A quirky and whimsical score works perfectly in the context of the film (although the whimsical music in "King of California" is just a notch better, because it works out of context as well), and overall "The Sasquatch Gang" is a perfect film for those will a knack for random and offbeat humor. This is certainly one of those movies that could gain a cult following if its even seen, and it should be. It's fun.
"The Sasquatch Gang" could be found at the Village East in New York City.
posted by Eric at
8:56 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home