Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Thursday, Oct. 31
The Indiana Daily Student

Strangely funny

Photo by Darren Michaels
[#Beginning of Shooting Data Section]
Nikon D2X
Focal Length: 0mm
Optimize Image: 
Color Mode: Mode I (sRGB)
Noise Reduction: OFF
2005/11/21 08:16:25.6
Exposure Mode: Manual
White Balance: Cloudy
Tone Comp: Auto
RAW (12-bit) 
Metering Mode: Center-Weighted
AF Mode: Manual
Hue Adjustment: 08
Image Size:  4320 x 2868
1/100 sec - F/0
Flash Sync Mode: Not Attached
Saturation:  Normal
Exposure Comp.: 0 EV
Sharpening: None
Lens: 
Sensitivity: ISO 320
Image Comment:                                     
[#End of Shooting Data Section]

Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions Company has had its hand in some truly awful movies. Not only has it produced Sandler's own crap -- "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" -- but also financed films for all his less-talented friends -- "Benchwarmers" and "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo" come to mind -- all of which have been awful. However, it seems the company finally found a decent film to produce and one that thankfully doesn't involve Rob Schneider: "Strange Wilderness."\n"Strange Wilderness" follows Peter Gaulke (Zahn), the host of a floundering wildlife-nature program that has fallen from grace after Gaulke's father passed away. To save the show, Peter and his entire crew trek deep into the Central American jungle to find the biggest wildlife prize of them all: Bigfoot. But, of course, things don't go as planned along the way.\nThis film is certainly not anything groundbreaking, but it has a good number of funny bits. These parts use the R rating to the film's advantage on numerous occasions by coming up with a slew of genital jokes and a whole lot of nudity. Case in point: the funniest gag in the entire film centers on one character's name being Dick.\nMost of the laugh-worthy parts come from Jonah Hill and Justin Long, two guys who probably wouldn't have signed up for this movie after their recent successes in "Superbad" and "Live Free or Die Hard," respectively. Nonetheless, the two are funny as can be as the weirdest of the weird in the crew. Steve Zahn handles the lead fairly well, but his character doesn't have a lot to do aside from getting angry and saying the occasional dumb thing.\nThe plot is extremely simple and moves at breakneck speed, which is probably a good thing considering its shallowness. The film's get-in-and-get-out mentality works perfectly, and it doesn't spend too long trying to draw out jokes -- it's all directly in your face.\nObviously, "Strange Wilderness" isn't that great of a movie, but it does deliver a steady amount of sleazeball humor. For the first week of February, it's a fairly solid release and better than any other comedy.

Get stories like this in your inbox
Subscribe