''Strange Wilderness'' is a 2008 American comedy-adventure film produced by
Adam Sandler's production company
Happy Madison Productions
Happy Madison Productions is an American film and television production company founded in 1999 by Adam Sandler, which is best known for its comedy films. Happy Madison takes its name from the films ''Happy Gilmore'' and ''Billy Madison'', two b ...
for
Paramount Pictures, directed by
Fred Wolf (who co-wrote the film with Peter Gaulke), and starring
Steve Zahn
Steven James Zahn (; born November 13, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. His film roles include ''Reality Bites'' (1994), ''That Thing You Do!'' (1996), ''Stuart Little'' (1999), '' Shattered Glass'' (2003), ''Sahara'' (2005), '' Chicken Li ...
,
Allen Covert
Allen Stephen Covert (born October 12, 1964) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for his starring role in the 2006 comedy film '' Grandma's Boy'', and his supporting actor role in the movie '' Strange Wilderne ...
,
Jonah Hill
Jonah Hill Feldstein (born December 20, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is known for his comedic roles in films including ''Superbad'' (2007), '' Knocked Up'' (2007), '' 21 Jump Street'' (2012), '' This Is the End'' (201 ...
,
Kevin Heffernan,
Ashley Scott
Ashley McCall Scott (born July 13, 1977) is an American actress and model, best known for providing the voice and motion capture for Maria Miller in the video games ''The Last of Us'' (2013) and ''The Last of Us Part II'' (2020). She has also a ...
,
Peter Dante,
Harry Hamlin
Harry Robinson Hamlin (born October 30, 1951) is an American actor, author, and entrepreneur. He is best known for his roles as Perseus in the 1981 fantasy film '' Clash of the Titans'' and as Michael Kuzak in the legal drama series '' L.A. Law' ...
,
Robert Patrick
Robert Hammond Patrick (born November 5, 1958) is an American actor. Known for portraying villains and honorable authority figures, he is a Saturn Award winner with four other nominations.
Patrick dropped out of college when drama class sparke ...
,
Joe Don Baker
Joe Don Baker (born February 12, 1936) is an American character actor and a life member of the Actors Studio. He established himself as an action star with supporting roles as a mysterious cowboy drifter in '' Guns of the Magnificent Seven'' (19 ...
,
Justin Long
Justin Jacob Long (born June 2, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. Long is known for his film roles, notably appearing in '' Jeepers Creepers'' (2001), ''Dodgeball'' (2004), '' Accepted'' (2006), ''Idiocracy'' (2 ...
,
Jeff Garlin
Jeffrey Garlin (born June 5, 1962) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for playing Murray Goldberg, patriarch of the eponymous family in the ABC sitcom '' The Goldbergs'', and Jeff Greene on the HBO sitcom ''Curb Your ...
, and
Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine (; born Ermes Effron Borgnino; January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012) was an American actor whose career spanned over six decades. He was noted for his gruff but relaxed voice and gap-toothed Cheshire Cat grin. A popular perfor ...
. It tells the story about the crew members of the titular nature show heading to
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...
to investigate a
Bigfoot sighting in order to keep the show from being cancelled. The film received negative reviews and was a
box office bomb
A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...
, making less than $7 million against a $20 million budget.
Plot
Peter Gaulke is the host of an unsuccessful
nature program called ''Strange Wilderness'' which was originally hosted by Peter's late father.
One day, Peter and his sidekick/
soundman Fred Wolf are told by network head Ed Lawson about the negative aspects of ''Strange Wilderness'' since the death of Peter's father like low ratings, poor content, inappropriate footage, referring to all
indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
as
pygmies
In anthropology, pygmy peoples are ethnic groups whose average height is unusually short. The term pygmyism is used to describe the phenotype of endemic short stature (as opposed to disproportionate dwarfism occurring in isolated cases in a pop ...
aside from the littering, and bad things happening to people in footage like an alligator attack on someone and a guy at a peace rally who was on fire. Unless something big happens, ''Strange Wilderness'' will be cancelled in two weeks.
Peter brainstorms ideas to keep ''Strange Wilderness'' on the air with Fred,
equipment manager
An equipment manager is the person in charge of equipment used by a business or organization. Their duties include purchasing, maintenance, repair, inventory, transportation, storage, cleaning, and liquidation. They are responsible for providing t ...
Lynn Cooker, driver Danny Gutierrez,
camera man Junior, and his father's old friend/original cameraman Milas. Bill Calhoun, his dad's friend, brings him photos of
Bigfoot hiding in
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...
and a map to his cave. Sky Pierson, the host of a more successful wildlife show, has offered $1,000 for the map. Unable to pay this, Peter tells Bill that he will have it in a week at his mountain cabin.
Peter, Fred, Lynn, Danny, and Junior start preparing for the long trip. They also bring in two more people like Whitaker, a former car mechanic now
animal handler, and Cheryl, a travel agent.
Stopping to shoot footage of
sea lion
Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...
s, Danny dresses up as a seal for better angles, gets
attacked by a shark, and ends up hospitalized. Outside the hospital, Peter and Fred get into trouble with a local gang, get their front teeth knocked out, and have to go to a dentist. These incidents cause more funds being drained.
They arrive at Bill's cabin only to learn he already sold the map to Pierson. However, Bill makes a copy of the map from security cameras. He also enlists the help of renowned tracker Gus Hayden, but they are unable to pay him. While urinating in the bushes, Peter is attacked by a mother
turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
, ending up with his penis inside its mouth. They rush him to a hospital to remove it from his penis. A wildlife ranger and a conservationist that "own" the turkey stop the doctor from cutting the turkey's head off, offering a $5,000 reward for the bird's return.
Continuing their journey, they eventually reach Ecuador. There, they meet up with Dick, an explorer and a friend of Bill who takes them to Gus Hayden.
The next morning however, they wake up to find that Gus has left, stolen their equipment, and Cheryl is missing. Though hesitant and with Peter not willing to give up, Dick agrees to lead the group through the jungle. During the night, Cheryl catches up with them and explains she saw Gus stealing their equipment and pretended to run off with him so she could get the map back.
The next day while crossing the river, Dick is attacked and eaten by
piranha
A piranha or piraña (, , or ; or , ) is one of a number of freshwater fish in the family Serrasalmidae, or the subfamily Serrasalminae within the tetra family, Characidae in order Characiformes. These fish inhabit South American rivers, fl ...
s. Coming across Pierson's camp, they find he and his team have been killed by local
pygmies
In anthropology, pygmy peoples are ethnic groups whose average height is unusually short. The term pygmyism is used to describe the phenotype of endemic short stature (as opposed to disproportionate dwarfism occurring in isolated cases in a pop ...
. The group then gathers the equipment and eventually reach Bigfoot's cave. While filming, a confused Bigfoot steps out and gets gunned down by the scared group. Not sure how to end the show in a good way later that night, Cooker comes up with the idea of showing Bigfoot committing suicide.
The surviving members return to the studio to show Lawson their footage where they tried to resuscitate Bigfoot. Lawson berates them for their ridiculousness and cancels ''Strange Wilderness''. This leads to a fight within the group.
One year later, Peter gets a visit from Milas who encourages him to revive ''Strange Wilderness''. Peter gets everyone back together and they make an episode about the shark attack using footage of them vomiting into the shark's mouth at the scene of the incident as well as Danny getting his arm bitten by that shark. Peter and Fred show it to Lawson. Impressed with the footage, Lawson states to Pete that people love shark attacks. With Pierson dead, Lawson puts ''Strange Wilderness'' back on the air.
A postscript states that ''Strange Wilderness'' became successful again and dominated the 3:00 AM slot. Six months later, Peter's group went searching for the
Loch Ness Monster
The Loch Ness Monster ( gd, Uilebheist Loch Nis), affectionately known as Nessie, is a creature in Scottish folklore that is said to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is often described as large, long-necked, and with one or mor ...
where hilarity occurred in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
. They remain friends to this day.
Cast
*
Steve Zahn
Steven James Zahn (; born November 13, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. His film roles include ''Reality Bites'' (1994), ''That Thing You Do!'' (1996), ''Stuart Little'' (1999), '' Shattered Glass'' (2003), ''Sahara'' (2005), '' Chicken Li ...
as Peter Gaulke, the host of ''Strange Wilderness''.
*
Allen Covert
Allen Stephen Covert (born October 12, 1964) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for his starring role in the 2006 comedy film '' Grandma's Boy'', and his supporting actor role in the movie '' Strange Wilderne ...
as Fred Wolf, the
soundman for ''Strange Wilderness'' and Peter's sidekick.
*
Jonah Hill
Jonah Hill Feldstein (born December 20, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is known for his comedic roles in films including ''Superbad'' (2007), '' Knocked Up'' (2007), '' 21 Jump Street'' (2012), '' This Is the End'' (201 ...
as Lynn Cooker, the
equipment manager
An equipment manager is the person in charge of equipment used by a business or organization. Their duties include purchasing, maintenance, repair, inventory, transportation, storage, cleaning, and liquidation. They are responsible for providing t ...
for ''Strange Wilderness''.
*
Kevin Heffernan as Whitaker, a former car
mechanic
A mechanic is an artisan, skilled tradesperson, or technician who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially cars.
Duties
Most mechanics specialize in a particular field, such as auto body mechanics, air conditioning an ...
that becomes the
animal handler for ''Strange Wilderness''.
*
Ashley Scott
Ashley McCall Scott (born July 13, 1977) is an American actress and model, best known for providing the voice and motion capture for Maria Miller in the video games ''The Last of Us'' (2013) and ''The Last of Us Part II'' (2020). She has also a ...
as Cheryl, a travel agent that gets involved with ''Strange Wilderness''.
*
Peter Dante as Danny Gutierrez, an RV driver.
*
Harry Hamlin
Harry Robinson Hamlin (born October 30, 1951) is an American actor, author, and entrepreneur. He is best known for his roles as Perseus in the 1981 fantasy film '' Clash of the Titans'' and as Michael Kuzak in the legal drama series '' L.A. Law' ...
as Sky Pierson, the host of a rival nature TV show.
*
Robert Patrick
Robert Hammond Patrick (born November 5, 1958) is an American actor. Known for portraying villains and honorable authority figures, he is a Saturn Award winner with four other nominations.
Patrick dropped out of college when drama class sparke ...
as Gus Hayden, an animal tracker.
*
Joe Don Baker
Joe Don Baker (born February 12, 1936) is an American character actor and a life member of the Actors Studio. He established himself as an action star with supporting roles as a mysterious cowboy drifter in '' Guns of the Magnificent Seven'' (19 ...
as Bill Calhoun, an old friend of Peter's father.
*
Justin Long
Justin Jacob Long (born June 2, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. Long is known for his film roles, notably appearing in '' Jeepers Creepers'' (2001), ''Dodgeball'' (2004), '' Accepted'' (2006), ''Idiocracy'' (2 ...
as Junior, a
camera man for ''Strange Wilderness''.
*
Jeff Garlin
Jeffrey Garlin (born June 5, 1962) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for playing Murray Goldberg, patriarch of the eponymous family in the ABC sitcom '' The Goldbergs'', and Jeff Greene on the HBO sitcom ''Curb Your ...
as Ed Lawson, the head of the TV studio K-Pip that broadcasts ''Strange Wilderness''.
*
Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine (; born Ermes Effron Borgnino; January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012) was an American actor whose career spanned over six decades. He was noted for his gruff but relaxed voice and gap-toothed Cheshire Cat grin. A popular perfor ...
as Milas, an old friend of Peter's dad and the original camera man on ''Strange Wilderness''.
*
John Farley as a mountain doctor
*
Oliver Hudson
Oliver Rutledge Hudson (born September 7, 1976) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Adam Rhodes in the CBS comedy series ''Rules of Engagement'' (2007–2013), Jeff Fordham on the ABC musical drama series ''Nashville'' (2013–20 ...
as TJ, an animal handler.
*
Blake Clark as Dick, an explorer who is friends with Gus.
*
Seth Rogen
Seth Aaron Rogen (; born April 15, 1982) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian and filmmaker. Originally a stand-up comedian in Vancouver, he moved to Los Angeles for a part in Judd Apatow's series '' Freaks and Geeks'', and then got a part o ...
as the voice of a ranger in a helicopter
*
Kevin Alejandro
Kevin Michael Alejandro (born April 7, 1976) is an American actor and film director. He is known for his roles as Nate Moretta in the crime drama '' Southland'', Forklift Mike in '' Parenthood,'' Jesús Velázquez in the supernatural thriller '' ...
as Hispanic Man #1
*
Jake Abel
Jacob Allen Abel (born November 18, 1987) is an American actor. He has appeared in the film adaptations of the young adult novels ''Percy Jackson'' (2010–2013), ''I Am Number Four'' (2011), and '' The Host'' (2013), along with portraying musi ...
as conservationist
*
Jim Meskimen
James Ross Meskimen (born September 10, 1959) is an American actor, comedian and impressionist, who is best known for his voice-over work in video games.
Early life
James Ross Meskimen was born in Santa Monica, California on September 10, 1959 ...
as Park Ranger Don, a park ranger who interrupts one of Peter's filming activities for ''Strange Wilderness'' because he did not have a permit to film in the forest.
* David Mattey as
Bigfoot, a Cryptid that was sighted in Ecuador.
* Jennifer Perks as Debra
* Meg Wolf as Judy, a K-Pip receptionist.
* Molly Wolf as Little Girl
*
Bill Burrud
William James Burrud (January 12, 1925 – July 12, 1990) was a child actor and a television host and producer best known for his travel programs.
Biography
Born in Hollywood, California, Burrud was a son of Leland Burrud, who had produced on ...
as Peter Gaulke's father (archive footage)
Reception
''Strange Wilderness'' received highly negative reviews.
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
gave it a 2% approval rating, based on 48 reviews with an average rating of 2.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "''Strange Wilderness'' is a laugh-free comedy that's both aimless and overly crass." Only one review counted for the website was positive, who was
Donald Clarke of ''
The Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'', who wrote "Strange Wilderness features a scene in which Steve Zahn has to have a turkey surgically removed from his genitals. The film also sees Harry Hamlin cut in half by pygmies and finds time for Ernest Borgnine to scowl at the camera. What's not to like?" On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, it has a weighted average score of 12 out 100 based on 12 reviews, indicating "overwhelming dislike". It is in 42nd place on the Metacritic list of the worst-reviewed films ever (with seven or more reviews).
References
External links
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{{Happy Madison Productions
2008 films
2000s adventure comedy films
American adventure comedy films
American buddy films
2000s English-language films
Films directed by Fred Wolf
Films with screenplays by Fred Wolf
Films shot in Los Angeles
Happy Madison Productions films
Paramount Pictures films
Bigfoot films
Fictional television shows
2008 directorial debut films
Films set in Ecuador
Films about shark attacks
2008 comedy films
2000s American films