The Sasquatch Gang

"The Sasquatch Gang" is a comedy starring Justin Long ("Live Free or Die Hard"), Joey Kern ("Totally Awesome"), Jeremy Sumpter ("Peter Pan"), and Carl Weathers (Apollo Creed from "Rocky"). The box looked pretty funny so I decided to check this out, but it's a little decieving. It says that it is from the guys who brought you "Napoleon Dynamite", it is actually Directed by the Assistant Director of Napoleon, so I don't really think that counts. This movie, originally released as "The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang", received a lot of critical praise at film festivals for its sweet, nerdy comedy. I think a lot of people would enjoy a film like this. I, however, wouldn't watch it again. It seems to have stolen alot from "Napoleon Dynamite" without creating its own unique akward charm. Joey Kern, who I think is absolutely hysterical, plays this white trash character 'Shirts'... but for some reason he talks like Kip. There is a moment where he is cooking a corndog, and his dog looks up at him and he says "No, puppy. This is my corndog". You could close your eyes and see Kip saying it to Tina. Jeremy Sumpter, the unadvertised lead, is Gavin a sci-fi/fantasy afficionado who falls in and out of sounding like Napoleon. I don't think it helps that in real life he has a slight lisp. The Napoleon-Lisp combo gives him a weird speech rhythm in this movie, which sucks cuz I love the kid. And his character is seen several times stealing Napoleon's moves, most of which are almost exact copies of the scenes where Napoleon is riding his bicycle. It really lacks its own pizazz. The only character who comes across as something new is Justin Long, he is another asshole hick kid, but he is hilarious. In one scene, Long is sweaty and casually dries himself off with the living room curtains, its subtle but funny. The perks of this movie are actually the secondary storylines and characters, the main plot steals too much from a film that practically everyone has seen. I say check it out if you like Justin Long, akward comedies like "Juno", or Corndogs. Out on DVD now.