The Sasquatch Gang

I saw this film at the Waterfront Film Festival in Saugatuck, Michigan, and it was my favorite film of the festival.

Directed by talented newcomer Tim Skousen, the film follows teen Gavin Gore (wonderfully played by Peter Pan's Jeremy Sumpter) and his three friends after they discover some Bigfoot tracks (and dumplings) in the forest. The fantasy-loving group decides to tell the police and media about it to see if the tracks actually belong to the Sasquatch. Meanwhile, as this is taking place, Gavin's neighbors, patriotic redneck Zerk Wilder and corndog loving Shirts (brilliantly played by Dodgeball's Justin Long and Cabin Fever's Joey Kern) get into some trouble. Zerk will lose his Pontiac Firebird to creditors if he doesn't pay for his credit bills. They decide to use the Sasquatch finding as a way to save the precious car. The two story lines cleverly intertwine and result in many hilarious scenes.

I loved the way the film was written. It's told in a comic book style, with different chapter titles and some of the same scenes from previous chapters appearing in later chapters, just from a different point of view.

I was laughing the whole way through this film. It was produced by the Napoleon Dynamite team and some of the touches from that film can be seen in this. But whether you loved Napoleon Dynamite or hated it, don't let that be the judge of whether you want to see this movie or not. This movie has its own clever and charming characteristics. The characters are all entertaining, the dialogue is hysterical, and it's clear that everyone working on the movie had a great time.

Director Tim Skousen, producers Mark Kassen and Jeremy Coon, and stars Justin Long and Joey Kern were all at the festival to promote the movie and tell stories about the making of it. I talked with them and got to ask some questions about the film and I must say, they were so nice and funny, I wish them all the best with this film and their future projects.

See this film then spread the word.

Having been compared to Napoleon Dynamite for obvious reasons, with similar people having worked on both films. However this film isn't exactly on the level of Napoleon and isn't quite the same. The comedy tone with its silly, dumb deadpan quirky nerd-like characters are obviously enough to draw comparisons. As well as the acting style of everyone seemingly acting clueless and oblivious. There are some touching heartfelt moments to be had and some moments which may seem nostalgic due to the teenagers and there whereabouts.

The storytelling was actually quite compelling, being told in somewhat of a non linear fashion with title cards showing the chapters before each major new instance. The comedy is certainly for an acquired and specific audience of films in that regard, however did not find anything quite humorous. Justin Long and his sidekick friend have some silly moments for comedic purposes but nothing is laugh out loud funny. In the end, there is a likeable charm in a silly way with the lead characters where we want to see them succeed.

Just saw the premiere at the Slamdance film festival on Saturday, Jan. 21 and it is hysterical! I believe they have actually topped Napoleon with this film! Congratulations to the "Sasquatch Gang" with breakout performances by Hubbel Palmer, Jeremy Sumpter, Addie Land and Rob Pinkston! Joey Kerns and Justin Long transform themselves into a couple of rednecks that keep you in stitches with some very memorable one-liners that people will be quoting for a long time to come! This movie is awesome!! Favorite line: "Fat people suck!" from Maynard (Rob Pinkston) This film's format is reminiscent of "Pulp Fiction". You will see some creative and inventive "chapters" that are titled with comic strip scenes. The story of the "gangs'" find of Sasquatch Poo and tracks in the woods is intertwined with the rednecks' quest to profit from it. Complete hilarity ensues!

Tim Skousen, the first assistant director on Napoleon Dynamite, serves as the director and writer on The Sasquatch Gang. This is clearly a copy of Napoleon Dynamite, but it is stronger and funnier in its humor. The character Napoleon Dynamite was slow, incompetent, not funny, trying to hard, and hard to like for most of the film. The lead character here is an adolescent, following in his footsteps, but seems to be more aware of his surroundings and can actually be called a "worthy hero." With Napoleon, he just wandered around aimlessly on screen for almost two hours stumbling from next plot point to next.

The plot: The story is sort of an anthology showing what a certain group of characters do, then showing what another group of characters were doing while the first were doing it. The stories intervene with each other, and I wasn't expecting this type of film to do that. It works in its favor big time. Geeky Gavin (Sumpter) and his friends Hobie (Palmer) and Maynard (Pinkston) enjoy fighting in their front yard with Styrofoam swords covered in colored tape. One day, Gavin and his buddies go into the woods and find feces and footprints of what they believe is from the Sasquatch.

Gavin continues to visit Sophie (Land) an insecure adolescent who works at the local video store. She is so insecure that she has her dentist uncle wire her mouth shut so she doesn't eat as much. Meanwhile, the two rednecks living next door (Kern and Long) are kept busy all day, and we see their day's work after we see our protagonist's work.

The Gavin character resembles a younger John Heder, the main character in Napoleon Dynamite. The Sophie character resembles Tina Majorino, the love interest in Napoleon Dynamite as well. It isn't hard to note a pattern forming with the characters, and it isn't hard to piece together this is a blatant knockoff of the film. Even Jon Heder makes a cameo appearance. If that isn't the "hey, look at me, I'm just like that guy!" moment I don't know what is.

I'd still go back and watch this before Napoleon because I found these characters so much more likable than the characters in that film. They were more fun to follow and learn about. Their main character doesn't drag his feet thru the storyline.

This isn't by any means a hilarious film, with numerous laughs, and a script to die for. It's a comedy. A decent one. There's parts that I found entertaining, like the scenes with Joey Kern and Justin Long, and parts that disinterested me, like the buildup between the relationship of the teenagers. I felt the film could've been smarter, and not focus on something like that. Still, The Sasquatch Gang manages to be better than the film it is a copy of. I can't say that happens to often in the industry.

Starring: Jeremy Sumpter, Justin Long, Joey Kern, Addie Land, Hubbel Palmer, Rob Pinkston. Directed by: Tim Skousen.

I went into this film with little knowledge of its plot beyond what IMDb and the Slamdance Film Festival published (at the time of this writing, there isn't a trailer or even a poster!).

That being said, I found myself starting to laugh at the very opening sequence, where the three geeks "prepare to do battle." The moment that won me over was when Gavin (played by Jeremy Sumpter) went over to a little portable CD boom-box to play some medieval music to set the "proper scene" for the battle! From then on, I sat back, relaxed, and enjoyed a pleasant comedy that was well-written, directed, edited, and acted (definitely a breakout performance by Sumpter as well as Hubbel Palmer as his sidekick).

Judging from the sustained laughter from the audience, I wasn't alone in my admiration for this independent film.