Strange Wilderness

I mentioned Kevin Heffernan. He's one of the Broken Lizard comedy team ("Super Troopers," "Club Dread," "Beerfest"), and I couldn't help thinking as I watched "Strange Wilderness" how much the script sounded like something the Broken Lizard gang would have rejected. That's how bad it is.

The gags in "Strange Wilderness" come flying fast, yet not a single one of them except for the deadpan delivery by Robert Patrick is at all humorous. Most of the jokes are simply gross or inappropriate, like our having to watch a man burn to death at a peace rally. I guess if you find that kind of thing funny, you find it funny; I didn't. Then there's an episode involving Peter relieving himself in the wilderness and being attacked by a wild turkey; uh, well, use your imagination. The turkey episode is supposedly the high point of the film's humor because among the disc's extras we get an entire behind-the-scenes segment on it. Yet I found it too obscene, too ridiculous, and too juvenile even to consider amusing.

Need I also tell you the movie is racist and sexist? You already guessed? On the back cover we read, "Rated R for non-stop language, drug use, crude and sexual humor." The only thing they got wrong was the "humor." The movie starts out bad and gets worse as it goes along. The very best part is the closing credits. They couldn't come fast enough.

Video:
Paramount present the picture in its original 2.35:1 theatrical aspect ratio and a decent anamorphic transfer. On the plus side, the screen is clear, and the colors are bright and deep, with good contrasts. On the negative side, the image is somewhat soft and often rather dark, making some scenes look murkier than they might have been in a theater.

Audio:
The disc case and the main menu say the audio is Dolby Digital 5.1. I'll take their word for it, but it seemed mostly like a limited two-channel stereo to me. Occasionally, the rear speakers show some signs of life, like when the crew is in the jungle, but mainly we get dialogue and sounds only from the center channel. There is a good clarity, though, a quiet background, and an appropriately dynamic acoustic. It sounds, in fact, like good broadcast-television stereo, even if it's really DD 5.1.

Extras:
Most of the special features on the disc are on the same level as the movie, meaning if you didn't care for the film, you won't care for the extras, either. First up there's "Cooker's Song," in which the viewer must suffer through five more minutes of a ridiculous song from the story. Next up there is a six-minute bit on the infamous turkey sequence; followed by six minutes of behind-the-scenes giggling in "What Do We Do?" After that is a twenty-one-minute "Reel Comedy: Strange Wilderness" segment, followed by thirteen deleted scenes, about twenty-two minutes' worth, that are really no worse than anything in the film. Come to think of it, you could just check out the deleted scenes and save yourself the trouble of watching the film.

The extras conclude with eleven scene selections but no chapter insert; English and Spanish spoken languages; and English, French, and Spanish subtitles.

Parting Shots:
After watching "Strange Wilderness," you may want to soak your feet in a tub of live piranhas, just for a few laughs. You'll find it a lot more fun than anything in this movie, which is not merely dumb but downright depressing. As I say, in its favor, it's brief. Regrettably, those few minutes go by like days. By comparison, "Strange Wilderness" makes "Dude, Where's My Car?" seem like something by Oscar Wilde. Don't say nobody warned you.

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