Tex Montana Will Survive!

Well, let me at least start out with the fact that I am knot a troll, or full time movie reviewer. I am no Siskel and Ebert. However, I wanted to write a small review, because this movie was such a surprise for me. I clicked on it, thinking, eh I will get bored and turn it off, but let's at least give it a moment to see what it has to offer. This really was pretty great. Tex Montana was just great, and hilarious. As the movie moves forward he really gets in touch with himself and the ***spoiler*** lies he has protrayed. I think if you give it a chance, you'll like it, perhaps not. I see there are quite a few ppl on here that do, indeed, enjoy it, so I know I am not alone. Great flick, thanks for sharing it with us, Gardner.

Gardner is one of my favorite directors. Battery and Spring are wonderful films.

I picked up a copy of Tex from Youtube (odd distribution model discussed in other reviews) .... and was hooked.

I "get" that in many ways this is a pure vanity project. But, if you have the talent, and you can deliver the goods, why not? Gardner has the talent. First, he set out to make what I call the "Holy Grail" of film -- one man acting as writer, actor and director locked in closet with a camera who successfully produces a decent film. Can it be done? Gardner did not use a closet, he used the outdoors --- and, in my view, he pulled it off.

Funny! Just to be clear, prior to watching Tex, I was watching Lewis Black's latest special, Black to the Future, and found that Black was becoming less funny from special to special. I did not even watch to the end.

Was the problem the performer or the audience? Was I losing my sense of humor? Turns out my sense of humor is just fine, thank you. As Tex picks up steam, I found I was laughing aloud more often. By the time we get to the 1:07 mark -- where Tex tells the camera that he may be having a stroke because his eye is blinking uncontrollably and trying to send him a message in Morse Code, not knowing that he himself does not understand Morse Code -- I am on the floor.

Just after that bit Tex, clearly depressed, gives us a quick lesson on the best way to shoot yourself in the head with a gun after you have been lost in the forest for more than two months and have clearly lost your mind.

Beware the haters.

This kind of film, ironically, does to the artist much the same thing that happens to the character (Tex) out in the wild. It leaves him exposed and vulnerable. Basically, Gardner knows that you know what he is attempting, and he is using every ounce of talent he has to keep you entertained and engaged.

I say this project works, and Gardner is still very much a genius. Pound for pound, and scene for scene, I found Tex funnier than Borat (2006) which was an international hit and launched Baron Cohen into the stratosphere.

Don't look a gift horse (or baby bear, or woodpecker) in the mouth.

Highly recommended.

Independent film, about a Bear Grylls-type adventurer made on a $1500 budget, no script, just ad-lib. Sounded really interesting. It's not. Got about 30 minutes in, made it through the boy humor song about sucking orifices and gave up. Wasn't funny or appealing.

I watch all of those above, plus Naked and Afraid. I gotta believe, based on a lot of the in jokes that Jeremy Gardner does too.

Now it does meander a bit, but Gardner's a pretty solid actor so he manages to sell it. Just when you're thinking the joke's getting old he manages to make you laugh again at some new dumb thing his character Tex Montana's decided to do.

Full disclosure though--if you're going in hoping for a sequel(in spirit even) to the Battery though, you're going to be disappointed. This isn't horror. For me, no big deal because I wasn't a massive fan of their first film. Seemed slow, but believe me I am well aware of no-budget limitations so I'm not bagging on them. Definitely had some interesting stuff.

Anyway--there ya go. You'll probably know if this will appeal to you or not. Check it out!

Fans of Eastbound and Down might well recognize our protagonist as a distant relative of Kenny Powers, a television "survivalist" who is put to the test and found wanting in a vast nature preserve.

My favorite parts of this are the monologues to his editor, "Amanda," who he implores not to make him look stupid. Of course, the character is the definition of stupid, who, even weeks in, cannot bear nighttime because of "ghosts."

One of the unexpected virtues of this yukfest are some honestly beautiful shots of the forest in midwinter.

This is not Citizen Kane, but frankly you were foolish if you thought from the description that it was.

Well, I laughed, quite a lot.