Review: The Sasquatch Gang

The film does little beyond mimicking Napoleon Dynamite’s off-kilter comedic tone and bizarre misfit characters.

The Sasquatch Gang

Tim Skousen was first assistant director on Napoleon Dynamite, and he does little other than mimic its slightly off-kilter comedic tone and bizarre misfit characters for his directorial debut, The Sasquatch Gang. It’s apparent from the jokes at his weird protagonists’ expense that he’d also like to replicate the condescending mean-spiritedness of Jared Hess’s 2004 cult classic. But mercifully, his film, boasting comic-book panel intertitles and a fractured narrative layout, is too incompetently second-rate to even be effectively patronizing. Sasquatch’s loser hero is Gavin (Jeremy Sumpter), who likes to spend time whacking his closest friends—Andre the Giant lookalike Hobie (Hubbel Palmer) and puny Maynard (Rob Pinkston)—with big styrofoam medieval weapons. They’re perfect candidates for the live-action role-playing games depicted in Darkon, and eventually find themselves embroiled in inane escapades involving a supposed Bigfoot sighting—or, more specifically, a sighting of the creature’s footprints and droppings—out in the woods. Love blossoms between Gavin and mouth-wired-shut Sophie (Addie Land), Carl Weathers makes an embarrassing appearance as Sasquatch expert Dr. Artemis Snodgrass, Jon Heder phones in his obligatory cameo, and a money-making plot is hatched by mulleted slacker Zerk (Justin Long) and his shirtless pal Shirts (Joey Kern), who barely moves his mouth while speaking in a high-pitched voice modeled after Napoleon Dynamite’s Kip. Other things happen too. But aside from Long’s dim bulb-arrogant response to a collection agent’s notice about overdue credit card charges, almost none of them are funny.

Score: 
 Cast: Jeremy Sumpter, Justin Long, Addie Land, Carl Weathers, Rob Pinkston, Joey Kern, Hubbel Palmer, Michael Mitchell, Veanne Cox, Ray Santiago, Stephen Tobolowsky, Jon Gries  Director: Tim Skousen  Screenwriter: Tim Skousen  Distributor: Screen Media Films  Running Time: 86 min  Rating: PG-13  Year: 2006  Buy: Video

Nick Schager

Nick Schager is the entertainment critic for The Daily Beast. His work has also appeared in Variety, Esquire, The Village Voice, and other publications.

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