Movie Review: Brigsby Bear

Brigsby Bear *** / *****

Directed by: Dave McCary.

Written by: Kevin Costello & Kyle Mooney.

Starring: Kyle Mooney (James Pope), Mark Hamill (Ted Mitchum), Jane Adams (April Mitchum), Greg Kinnear (Detective Vogel), Matt Walsh (Greg Pope), Michaela Watkins (Louise Pope), Ryan Simpkins (Aubrey Pope), Alexa Demie (Meredith), Jorge Lendeborg Jr. (Spencer), Claire Danes (Emily), Chance Crimin (Logan), Beck Bennett (Detective Bander), Andy Samberg (Eric), Kate Lyn Sheil (Arielle Smiles).

 

The premise of Brigsby Bear is so odd and original, that it’s more than a little disappointing when the film doesn’t quite willing or able to completely follow through on it. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot to admire about Brigsby Bear – which is one of the stranger films you will see this year, and yet, there is an ever darker, stranger – and better – film lurking somewhere in this material, than the makers don’t seem willing to fully embrace. What they have is weird and different – what they could have had could have been amazing.

 

The film stars Kyle Mooney – of Saturday Night Live fame – who also co-wrote the screenplay. He plays James, a kid somewhere in his mid-to-late 20s, and when we first meet him, we know immediately he is odd, but not why. He is obsessed with a TV show called Brigsby Bear – which he watches on seemingly old VHS tapes, in his windowless room. The show looks like something you would have seen on TV in the 1970s or 1980s – people is oversized costumes, low production values, a lot of moral lessons spoken to the camera, etc. James is way too old to be obsessed with this show – but he is anyway. Soon, we will learned why when police invade his home. His parents (Mark Hamil and Janes Adams) are arrested – and James is told he was kidnapped as an infant, and brought up in isolation by these two criminals. Brigsby Bear was the only show he ever had access to – and even stranger, it was never a real TV show at all. It was something that his father made in an old warehouse himself, and delivered weekly.

 

What follows from there is a weird, mixed bag of a film. James is returned to his real family (mother and father Matt Walsh and Michaela Watkins, 19 year old sister Aubrey (Ryan Simpkins). His obsession with Brigsby Bear continues – he even shares some of the tapes with Aubrey’s friends – who become his new friends as well – and eventually, they all get the idea that what they need to do is “finish” the show – give it the wrap up it deserves.

 

There is an odder, darker film in this material somewhere – but for the most part Mooney, co-writer Kevin Costello and director Dave McCary abandon it to tell a story about the power of creativity. Perhaps James will eventually grow up – and leave Brigsby Bear behind – but until he finishes it, he can never do that. The movie then isn’t about leaving obsession behind – but fully embracing it. Down that path is another, darker message that the film doesn’t explore either. The film builds to a heartwarming climax – but I’m not sure it works, and I really what to know what is next. Can James ever move forward, and become a fully functional person, or will he always been this way. The movie doesn’t have an answer – and I don’t think it even asks the question.

 

All of this probably makes it sound like I didn’t like Brigsby Bear. That isn’t true. This is an odd film to be sure, but it is one that is loaded with laughs – some from the Brigsby Bear show, and making of the finale, some from James just not knowing much about the world. Mooney, who is one of the oddest comedians that SNL has ever hired, has a sweetness to him that works here. I do think he could have handled the darkness as well, had they decided to go there – but they don’t.

 

The result then is an odd movie, that doesn’t quite work, but is very original and weird. It reminded me of the work of Michel Gondry – which is often this way as well, except when he has worked with Charlie Kaufman, who brings in a deeper, darker, more complex element. Brigsby Bear is Gondry without Kaufman, which is okay – but nothing compared to when the two team up. I want to see the next film from this team – but I do hope the fully embrace the weirdness and darkness, implied here, when they make it.