Rating: B
Dir: Mike Cheslik
Star: Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, Olivia Graves, Wes Tank, Doug Mancheski
There are movies where describing them accurately would be liable to get you committed. This is probably one such. On the surface, it’s technically a simple tale of applejack maker Jean Kayak (Tews), who has to take up a new career as a fur trapper in the harsh outdoor climate of the frozen Midwest. This involves learning to hunt the various animals, from skunks through rabbits to beaver. But the way in which this is executed… Imagine a Looney Tunes cartoon with Elmer Fudd, entirely in live-action, black-and-white, largely without dialogue, and with all the animals played by humans in costumes (top), better suited for a nine-year-old’s birthday party at a certain chain of pizza arcades.
It feels like the kind of thing which would become incredibly wearing to watch. After all, there’s a reason Looney Tunes ran less than ten minutes per cartoon. Yet this does a remarkably good job of sustaining your interest over its 100+ minute running-time. It’s a non-stop blizzard – word chosen advisedly – of invention, with Jean’s trapping efforts resembling Wile E. Coyote’s attempts to catch the roadrunner. Except eventually, he sometimes does succeed, taking the pelts to a local trader (Tank), where he can swap them for upgrades, such as a knife, club or gun. [This, as some other aspects, is done in video-game style] Bonus: he can woo the merchant’s daughter (Graves), a young woman with an enthusiastic approach to dismemberment. Furry stuffing everywhere…
The final act, however, takes a distinct turn. Throughout proceedings, in the background we see the beavers building their lodge. Except, by the end, it’s a massive edifice, befitting a Bond villain lair, inside which an entire civilization is operating, and working on a project to… Well, I’ll say “space beavers” and leave it at that. Jean is captured and made to stand trial for his genocidal crimes against beaverkind. He has to escape, fight his way out, and redeem the necessary number of beaver pelts to get the engagement ring he wants for his girlfriend. This leads to an extended chase through the logging flumes of their lair, which owes as much to the masters of slapstick comedy, such as Buster Keaton or Harold Lloyd, as anything.
There’s an awful lot to admire here, showing that limited resources are no barrier to imagination (a beaver Sherlock Holmes and Watson) of the fully committed kind (as in, large chunks of this were indeed shot in the harsh outdoor climate of the frozen Midwest). It would be an exaggeration to claim every joke hits, and if you’re not in the mood for the film’s deadpan silliness, this could feel like a very long hour and forty minutes. However, I am prepared to bet this won’t be like anything else you will have ever seen before. By the end, I was left not minding at all if we were to get an entire Wisconsin Cinematic Universe along the same lines.
The film is currently on tour. Check its website for screenings and details.