Strange Wilderness Review

Posted by Chad Webb on 02.04.2008

The return of the real Steve Zahn.

Steve Zahn: Peter Gaulke
Allen Covert: Fred Wolf
Jonah Hill: Cooker
Kevin Heffernan: Whitaker
Ashley Scott: Cheryl
Peter Dante: Danny Guiterrez
Harry Hamlin: Sky Pierson
Robert Patrick: Gus Hayden
Joe Don Baker: Bill Calhoun
Blake Clark: Dick
Justin Long: Junior
Jeff Garlin: Ed Lawson
Ernest Borgnine: Milas
Directed By: Fred Wolf
Written By: Fred Wolf and Peter Gaulke
Release Date: February 1, 2008
Running Time: 1 hour and 26 minutes







Rated R for non-stop language, drug use, crude and sexual humor.

Since the inception of Happy Madison Productions in 1999, the friends of Adam Sandler have had the opportunity to star in their own separate comedies. Grandma’s Boy was the first, and despite the utter stupidity of the plot, it actually found a niche where it was funny. This type of humor will only reach certain people. One can love it or hate it with barely any middle ground. Strange Wilderness is the sophomore effort for the Sandler clan, and unfortunately it is a disaster. This is one of the most atrocious comedies with generally hilarious people involved.

Following the death of his father, Peter Gaulke (Steve Zahn) was left to inherit his wildlife-themed television show called “Strange Wilderness.” Sadly, he did not acquire his Dad’s gift of intelligence, so the ratings plummet quickly. The network executive of KPIP, Ed Lawson (Jeff Garlin), gives them notice of their cancellation in two weeks. A rival series headed by Sky Pierson (Harry Hamlin) is set to take their spot. Peter and his sidekick Fred Wolf (Allen Covert) are then met by Bill Calhoun (Joe Don Baker), an old acquaintance that has pictures of Bigfoot and a map leading to his cave. Peter thinks that if he can obtain footage of the legendary creature that KPIP will immediately pick them up for more episodes. However, the clock is ticking because Sky Pierson and his gang have a head start on the location of Bigfoot, so Peter and company must arrive first.

Allen Covert was the star in Grandma’s Boy, but he takes a back seat to Steve Zahn for this adventure. After watching his glorious performance in the Werner Herzog war drama Rescue Dawn, in addition to his admirable turn in the mini-series Commanche Moon, it is somewhat tragic that Zahn has so rapidly returned to the roles that gave him such a mixed reputation. He possesses the range and vigor to unleash powerful bursts of emotion and heart, but it is easy to forget that in the midst of films like Strange Wilderness. As Peter Gaulke, Zahn recalls his most infuriating traits. If not for the screen time afforded to the rest of the cast, this might have been totally unbearable.

To describe this as an eclectic cast is an understatement. Allen Covert is Fred Wolf, oddly named after the director, and he is the boom operator. Covert resides firmly in Zahn’s shadow, even though he can handle more weight. Jonah Hill, fresh off Superbad, delivers some truly agonizing work as Cooker, a man whose job on the crew escapes me. Maybe he cleans? Regardless, Cooker is irritating with an accent that will drive you insane. He recycles the hand buzzer gag entirely too much in under ninety minutes. Justin Long is Junior, the sole reason this will be labeled as a stoner comedy. He is getting high all the time, and ends up replacing the normal camera operator. In one amusing scene, he gets tattoos of eyes on his eyelids. This made me chuckle, until the tattoos mysteriously vanished, and then I wondered why I laughed. Ashley Scott from Jericho fame is the eye candy who has a few jokes up her sleeve. Aside from her attractive looks, Scott is hardly worth mentioning. Kevin Heffernan is Whitaker, the auto body mechanic who receives the job as animal handler. Heffernan is unstoppable in the Broken Lizard clan, but here he struggles largely due to the idiocy of the script.

And that’s not all! Strange Wilderness managed to lure in quite the number of veterans. Ernest Borgnine begins as the cameraman Milas who worked with Peter’s father for years. Joe Don Baker is Bill Calhoun, the lithium desperate woodsman who holds the Bigfoot map. Blake Clark is Dick, the guide who eventually plans to lead the group to a tracker. Dick is just named Dick, like Madonna. This attempt at humor seems a trifle worn out to be remotely funny. Robert Patrick is Gus Hayden, the tracker, who has a disturbing wound on his genitalia. Jeff Garlin is the network exec Ed Lawson who wants nothing more than to axe “Strange Wilderness.” Garlin is known for his attitude and timing on Curb Your Enthusiasm. He should have had more to do here. Harry Hamlin is Sky Pierson, the competitors for Peter. Hamlin is of course cartoonishly nasty and forgettable. All of these popular names have one thing in common. The only arsenal of humor they have is based on their real reputations. The roles in the story are simply dumb. Once the shock of “Hey, that’s…” wears thin (after a couple minutes), the true limp colors of Strange Wilderness emerge.

The problem is that Director Fred Wolf and co-screenwriter Peter Gaulke try too hard to be random. That is why Grandma’s Boy impressed at least a few people. In Strange Wilderness, the audience never has room to suck in air before another joke lands. At under an hour and a half, some adept editing was vital, and could have saved this from being disappointing. For example, Junior steals a tank of nitrus and they plan to sell it. On the way to Bill Calhoun’s cabin, the nitrus leaks, causing a trailer party with blacklights, nudity, and other hijinks to ensue. Then, at Bill’s cabin, a video of his wife reveals she cheated, which results in numerous one-liners. Then, Peter relieves himself outside and a turkey deep-throats his penis, causing them to go to the hospital where a nurse has to massage it. You get the idea. It never stops, never rests, and never calms down. If I never have time to laugh for even a second, how can I possibly find enjoyment?

The most hilarious aspect that was always spot on is the voice-over for the “Strange Wilderness” show. Zahn’s commentary of comparing sea lions to tigers, calling sharks “The a**hole of the sea”, and exposing what makes a blowfish blow are creative. Director Fred Wolf started out as a writer for Saturday Night Live, and then moved to penning Joe Dirt and Dickie Roberts: Former Childhood Star, which led to him to his debut feature in Strange Wilderness. Wolf and co-screenwriter Peter Gaulke just don’t have a solid grasp on proper timing, pacing, or subtlety. Without those key facets, any comedy will suffer, and this does, it really does. Even the storytelling is silly and brainless with a flashback method ending that is just ridiculous.

Gross out absurdity, non-sequiturs, and haphazard slapstick gags are fine and dandy. Viewers usually anticipate this from Happy Madison Productions, but not when they are assembled in an unrelenting and uncontrollable manner which never allows anyone to react. This is a disheveled and miserable slacker-fest with lots of potential, but virtually no patience. There is a philosophical riddle that goes "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" If Strange Wilderness is that tree, then we are ignoring the sounds it is making.

The 411: Happy Madison Productions is hit and miss. I sometimes admire Sandler’s buddies Allen Covert and Peter Dante, and the offerings they tackle without their leader, but this one is just terrible. The jokes, besides being flat and stupid the majority of the time, are unleashed in such a large number with no room for breathing that finding any likeable qualities in Strange Wilderness is almost impossible. If this is a sign of things to come for comedy in 2008, then we are in store for a long year folks.

Final Score:  2.5   [ Very Bad ]