Strange Wilderness (2008)

Directed by: Fred Wolf | 87 minutes | comedy | Actors: Steve Zahn, Allen Covert, Jonah Hill, Kevin Heffernan, Ashley Scott, Peter Dante, Harry Hamlin, Robert Patrick, Joe Don Baker, Blake Clark, Justin Long, Jeff Garlin, Ernest Borgnine, Jake Abel, Rick Batalla, Richard Cassese Oliver Hudson, David Mattey, Jim Meskimen, Jennifer Perkins, Bryan Ross, Jason Sandler, Meg Wolf, Shawn Woodward

Animal shows or so-called nature programs. Discovery Channel has become big with it. And many have seen these programs when they were smaller. It was somehow fascinating to be able to study the day-to-day running of the animal kingdom up close undisturbed. For example, animals sometimes looked just like people. Today, the many reality shows and the fascination with this expose that people are actually a lot like animals. Fortunately, everything used to be better, wasn’t it?

Peter Gaulke’s father’s wildlife show was such a successful animal show. But since the death of his father and Peter and his team took over the show, the viewing figures have deteriorated. Mainly because they have absolutely no idea how such a show should actually be put together. They mainly spend their time commenting on nature films with the most nonsensical texts. The team that Peter and Fred have gathered around them consists entirely of wacky fringe characters (including Jonah Hill from ‘Superbad’) with the notable exception of veteran Ernest Borgnine in a supporting role.

The quest for Bigfoot is the main focus of the story, and Peter and his team stumble from one joke to the next. Some jokes are completely impossible to tie up, other jokes barely rise above the ‘sex with animals’ content. It is clear that you have to like these kinds of comedies. Fans of Adam Sandler movies (he produced this print by the way) and Judd Apatow’s humour, will love this one, but again, you really have to be in the mood for it. Plus, as the lead actor, Steve Zahn isn’t convincing enough to carry the entire movie.

The story of these kinds of movies really doesn’t matter. Is this movie funny? Yes, that’s him. Some scenes contain hilarious moments, partly due to the supporting roles. However, these are too sporadic to take the film as a whole to the next level. The screenwriters based the film on a number of short skits they had written for “Saturday Night Live”. Perhaps it would have been better to have left it at that, because this film cannot be called a brilliant continuation.