Review of Escanaba in da Moonlight (2001) by Jacob E — 06 Oct 2008

[FONT=Arial] I think a hunter would be proud of this movie. Why? It is the ultimate trap of a movie. It lures you in with an excellent narrative beginning, a great setting, good acting and some hilarious jokes presented in a comical way. But once you get past about 30 minutes, suddenly the movie takes a Michigan left from Good Ole Memory Lane to Crap Street. Everything has a strong showing in the beginning but eventually degrades as the movie goes on.

The plot is about Reuben Soady, a Michigan native hunter. The Soady family has certain traditions and one of them is to go up to the Soady Deer Camp in Escanaba, Michigan 1 day before hunting season starts. Activities include telling stories, drinking whiskey, euchre playing, beer drinking, shooting deer, more beer drinking, and beer drinking. By the way did I mention beer drinking? 4 guys meet at Deer Camp, Reuben, Jimmer Negamanee (an insane man who believes he was abducted by aliens with a unbelievable capacity for all forms of alcohol), Remnar Soady (Reuben's brother), and Albert Soady (Reuben and Remnar's father). Reuben's problem is that he is in danger of being the oldest Soady family member to not have bagged a buck. In order to avoid being the oldest, Reuben decides to change up the family tradition to change his luck. Suddenly strange events begin to occur like all the whiskey becomes sour, their euchre cards change in the middle of the game, they find an insane DNR officer who believes he saw God on the ridge near the Soady deer camp, and... Well, do I have to list more? Can't you see where this movie went wrong? Suddenly, what could have been a great hunting comedy turns into a bad Twin Peaks episode. People fall into trances, they have strange nightmares, and the DNR officer becomes possessed by a Native American spirit (almost like Bob from Twin Peaks?).

The acting is great though. Jeff Daniels does a great job with being a hunter who is reluctant to push the trigger. None of the other actors are famous, but they all do a great job in a movie as bad as 2001: A Space Odyssey (okay, Escanaba in Da Moonlight isn't that bad because nothing is worse than 2001). Their are some very funny lines to remember and some hilarious scenes to recall but nothing else.

Overall, Escanaba in Da Moonlight begins strong but just flops and dies like a deer hit by a truck.

Final Rating: 4 out of 10.