STRANGERS IN A STRANGE LAND
Given the hastening subordination of reality to the symbolic, courtesy of digitalization, it should come as no surprise that one group of inadvertent holdouts against this trend, wildlife, is now the subject of a new film that “focuses” on capturing their pre-oedipal existence on camera, albeit through the efforts of stoners who are themselves trying to reconcile themselves with “the law of the father,” when, that is, they are not trying to escape it all together. It is also worth noting that one of the actors in this film, Jonah Hill (no doubt named for the biblical story of parthenogensis and male maternal fantasies — Jonah and the whale) has also been in some of the other recent films that are monitoring the cultural unconscious, including “Knocked UP” (pregnancy and paternity), “Evan Almighty” (a retelling of the apocalyptic story of Noah and the Ark), “Superbad (in which adolescent boys are obsessed with their penises), and the “40-Year-Old Virgin” (the title speaks for itself). Hill’s next film, interestingly enough, is utterly grounded in the imaginary, the realm of the ear, as it’s an animated film based on a book by one of the great masters of Magic Thought, Dr. Seuss: “Horton Hears a Hoo.” And after that he’s slated to star in a film titled, “The Middle Child.” Hmmmmm
February 2, 2008
Attention, Slackers: It’s a Jungle Out There
By MATT ZOLLER SEITZ
Underachieving even by the standards of stoner comedies, “Strange Wilderness” is so inert that it doesn’t so much unreel on screen as loiter there, giggling at its own outrageousness.
Steve Zahn, who can do better than this, stars as Peter Gaulke, the rascally, pot-smoking host of a nature show that he inherited from his father and allowed to degenerate into a ready-for-cable-access shadow of its former self. When Gaulke’s fed-up employer (Jeff Garlin), the boss of a Nature Channel-type network, threatens to cancel the series, Gaulke loads up his Winnebago with camera equipment and deranged, intoxicant-inclined, seemingly incompetent crew members (including Allen Covert of “The Wedding Singer” and Jonah Hill of “Superbad”) and drives to Costa Rica in search of Bigfoot.
What follows is copious bong humor; a mobile bacchanal sparked by nitrous oxide; an encounter with a deranged survivalist Vietnam veteran (Robert Patrick) who proudly shows off his mutilated testicles; several lame, cutesy-profane acoustic guitar numbers performed by Mr. Hill that make you wish you were watching a Jack Black movie instead; piranha and shark attacks played for laughs; and an unprintable, perhaps indescribable, admittedly audacious gag that puts a turkey in a compromising position.
Adding to the sense that you’re watching a feature-length in-joke, Mr. Zahn’s character is named after Peter Gaulke, a screenwriter and former writer for “Saturday Night Live.” Mr. Covert’s character, a sound man, is named after Fred Wolf, who is making his directorial debut with “Strange Wilderness” and is also a former “SNL” writer. Mr. Wolf and Mr. Gaulke wrote the screenplay.
What rankles isn’t the gross-out humor or the verbal non sequiturs, which are expected, even welcome, in this sort of movie. It’s the smug sense of entitlement — that of intoxicated dweebs tittering endlessly and obnoxiously at their own supposed cleverness. “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle” is the gold standard in this genre. “Strange Wilderness” is a counterfeit bill.
“Strange Wilderness” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). It has profanity, drug use, nudity, violence and many graphic injuries to the gonads.
STRANGE WILDERNESS
Opened on Friday nationwide.
Directed by Fred Wolf; written by Mr. Wolf and Peter Gaulke; director of photography, David Hennings; edited by Tom Costain; music by Waddy Wachtel; production designer, Perry Andelin Blake; produced by Mr. Gaulke; released by Paramount Pictures. Running time: 1 hour 27 minutes.
WITH: Steve Zahn (Peter Gaulke), Allen Covert (Fred Wolf), Jonah Hill (Cooker), Kevin Heffernan (Bill Whitaker), Ashley Scott (Cheryl), Peter Dante (Danny Gutierrez), Harry Hamlin (Sky Pierson), Robert Patrick (Gus Hayden), Joe Don Baker (Bill Calhoun), Justin Long (Junior), Jeff Garlin (Ed Lawson) and Ernest Borgnine (Milas).