Strange Wilderness

Animal enthusiast Peter Gaulke (Steve Zahn) and his sidekick Fred Wolf (Allen Covert) host an ailing wildlife TV show "Strange Wilderness," which is in a steep ratings decline. Desperate to save the show, Peter hatches a Hail Mary scheme to find the one animal that could truly turn the show around and change the nature-show landscape forever – Bigfoot.

As lunkhead comedies go, Strange Wilderness never creates the necessary frisson to keep a viewer engaged by the film’s endless parade of marijuana jokes, gross-out sight gags, and celebrations of rank stupidity. Which is too bad, because the cast would be ideal for a smarter version of a stupid movie, but they come off as largely wasted here. Steve Zahn (That Thing You Do) plays Peter Gaulke, heir to a wild animal television program called "Strange Wilderness," but too out of it to keep up his late father’s congenial yet focused legacy. With the show’s ratings plummeting (even at a 3 a.m. broadcast time), Peter attempts to rescue the series by traveling to Ecuador in search of Bigfoot. Accompanied by a crew of idiots (Allen Covert, Jonah Hill, Justin Long) and one comely lass (Ashley Scott of TV’s Jericho), Peter heads into one obstacle after another: sharks, piranha, pygmies, Mexican border guards, a crazy tracker (Robert Patrick), and a nitrous high. After awhile, the lowbrow hijinks all run together and one feels a bit trapped, desperately awaiting final credits. But there are a couple of recurring comic ideas that salvage the movie somewhat, especially the use of stock footage of animals accompanied by Peter’s absurd voiceovers. ("The shark can be found only in two places: the northern and southern hemispheres.") --Tom Keogh