Culturedemandsgeeks has heard a lot of negativity regarding this film starring quite a range of talented actors. The Christmas comedy which made a brief pitstop in select theaters in 2017 never got the coverage that it deserved, until Netflix have acquired the rights.
THE PLOT:
Pottersville, Aptly named in reference to the bizarro nightmare town from “It’s a Wonderful Life,” this new Pottersville might be even more depressing than the one that George Bailey managed to escape.
The town is struggling, since the local mill closed a few years prior, the streets are empty and the storefronts are wallpapered with “for sale” signs. In fact, at first it seems as though Maynard is the only living man in town. Shannon endows his character with the spirit of a sweet eccentric. Maynard is so kind that he lets everyone pay on credit because he knows they’re struggling — so clueless that he doesn’t even pick up on the fact that his sole employee (Judy Greer) is harboring a massive crush on him. Sometimes, it seems like Maynard is singlehandedly holding the town together. The sheriff (Perlman) certainly isn’t helping, as he’s busy sneaking over to Maynard’s house and being a furry with his wife (Christina Hendricks).
Baffled by this betrayal and now drunk for the second time in his life, Maynard decides to give this animal-costume thing a try. He rifles through an old Halloween costume box, puts on a monkey mask and has a late-night stumble through neighbors’ yards.
The next day, many Pottersville residents claim to have seen Bigfoot, and news of the Bigfoot sightings spread, and the quiet streets begin to see more traffic as tourists come along to have their own Sasquatch adventure.
Seeing the potential, Maynard decides he has to keep this fraud going once he realizes how excited townsfolk are about the sightings. Overnight, a cryptozoology-themed tourist industry springs up, and Pottersville is visited by the cheesy host of a reality show called Monster Finder (Thomas Lennon’s Brock Masterson). Maynard wants to keep sneaking around in costume until Brock can capture him on tape and cement the town’s fame.
Lennon is saddled with much of the comic weight in ensuing scenes, as Brock is revealed to be a showboating coward who isn’t even a real Australian.
So much of this film is carried by the actors. Despite the ridiculous plot and hammy dialogue, every one of them seems to be invested in doing a competent job.
Michael Shannon typically plays intense or at least stoic characters, but in this, he is a sweet and gentle man who is a little silly but generous to a fault with his customers. Both Judy Greer and Christina Hendricks are fun to watch but aren’t given much to do beyond their basic roles of the mean ex-wife and possible love interest.
McShane is delightful as the gruff old woodsman and at times it almost becomes a parody with how far he pushes the role. And like many of Pearlman previous film roles, the actor is just as menacing as the Sherriff as he is at playing Hellboy.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
A sweet-timely film detonating the BIGFOOT myth up at Christmas time. The characters are there along with a decent script and some, very funny moments, indeed. And for the first hour it manages to combine all its parts into something that is so weird it almost becomes surreal, but unfortunately the third act doesn’t have enough ‘oompth’ to steer the film to a grand ending. Bit still, it is a decent Christmas film.
3.5/5 STARS