As someone who loves Saturday Night Live, I had high hopes for this audacious indie comedy. While I can say that this film scores plenty of points in the creativity department and has some laughs, it unfortunately falls a bit short of what I hoped it to be. The plot centers around a man-child named James, who has been raised in a bunker by two 'parents' (read: captors,) who spends his days doing chores and watching a TV show on VHS called "Brigsby Bear Adventures." This is a very cheesy, educational kids' TV show centered around an animatronic bear named Brigsby and his ongoing war with the evil Sun Snatcher. When the FBI shows up at his door and raids the bunker, they arrest his captors. James is now out in the real world, and after meeting his real parents, he decides he needs to finish the story of Brigsby Bear by making a movie.
On paper, "Brigsby Bear" has a good number of admirable qualities. The story is very unique, as is the presentation of the plot. The first act is thoroughly entertaining and manages to fire out both plot details and witty one-liners at a quick pace. Additionally, the film's depiction of amateur filmmaking feels fairly authentic, almost like films such as "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl." So then why, unfortunately, does this movie not completely work? The primary reason is that the script starts to falter a bit after the first act. While the jokes about James adjusting to the real world are funny at first, they start to wear off and become predictable after the first act. Additionally, the characters tend to feel rather shallow and underdeveloped--and this unfortunately even includes James, to some extent. It's hard to feel much for the characters in this film, which is really a shame since we want to feel for the director's vision of them. We see that director Dave McCary had a highly original idea for a feature-length directorial debut, but he unfortunately cannot maintain the sense of understanding we are supposed to generate towards characters--especially sympathetic ones. That, unfortunately, is too bad. Recommended for theatrical viewing only to fans of McCary and/or Mooney; others should probably just wait to rent it. 6.5/10
On paper, "Brigsby Bear" has a good number of admirable qualities. The story is very unique, as is the presentation of the plot. The first act is thoroughly entertaining and manages to fire out both plot details and witty one-liners at a quick pace. Additionally, the film's depiction of amateur filmmaking feels fairly authentic, almost like films such as "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl." So then why, unfortunately, does this movie not completely work? The primary reason is that the script starts to falter a bit after the first act. While the jokes about James adjusting to the real world are funny at first, they start to wear off and become predictable after the first act. Additionally, the characters tend to feel rather shallow and underdeveloped--and this unfortunately even includes James, to some extent. It's hard to feel much for the characters in this film, which is really a shame since we want to feel for the director's vision of them. We see that director Dave McCary had a highly original idea for a feature-length directorial debut, but he unfortunately cannot maintain the sense of understanding we are supposed to generate towards characters--especially sympathetic ones. That, unfortunately, is too bad. Recommended for theatrical viewing only to fans of McCary and/or Mooney; others should probably just wait to rent it. 6.5/10