Movie Review: The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot

The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then The Bigfoot *** ½ / *****

Directed by: Robert D. Krzykowski.

Written by: Robert D. Krzykowski.

Starring: Sam Elliott (Calvin Barr), Aidan Turner (Calvin Barr), Caitlin FitzGerald (Maxine), Ron Livingston (Flag Pin), Sean Bridgers (Mr. Gardner), Ellar Coltrane (The Clerk), Larry Miller (Ed), Mark Steger (The Bigfoot), Rizwan Manji (Maple Leaf).

 

When you sit down to watch a movie entitled The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot, you are not wrong to have certain expectations for the movie you are going to get. The title implies a fun B-movie – something to watch at midnight in a grimy theater with a bunch of people hollering at the screen. That is certainly the film I thought I was sitting down to watch (sadly, not in a grimy theater, but in my living room – but I did start it at midnight, so there’s that) – and that is not the film that Robert D. Krzykowski has made here. As much as you can take the premise of this movie seriously, Krzykowski and company do – and they’ve really made a film about the cost of violence, and how it weighs on those who perpetuate it, even in a just cause. And also, at times a rather touching love story. It’s the type of film that you could kind of see Clint Eastwood directing and starring in about 20 years ago. This isn’t to say that The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot isn’t an odd film – it’s a very odd film – but perhaps not in the way you were thinking.

 

The film flashes back and forth in time to tell the story of Calvin Barr at two different parts of his life. During WWII, when he is played by Aidan Turner he is selected to carry out the mission that gives the first part of the title its name. Decades later, now played by Sam Elliott, he is a sad and lonely retiree just basically living out the string in grimy bars. He is single – which brings up questions, since in the past scenes, he has a tender romance with Maxine (Caitlin FitzGerald) and has pretty much closed himself off from all around him – his younger brother, Ed (Larry Miller) barely knows him, even though they do see each other often. It is then that he is approached by the government with the offer that gives the second part of the title its name – presumably because of his reputation during WWII, where his “glory” is whispered about, and also because he is an expert tracker, and somehow immune to what disease the Bigfoot has. This Bigfoot has been killing people, and the government is struggling to keep it under wraps.

 

Sam Elliott is undeniably the right choice to play the older Barr – yes, Eastwood would have been great in the late 1990s, but now, Elliott brings the same kind of weight and gravitas to the role that Eastwood would have, but also a kind of winking smile appropriate to the material. He has been experiencing a well-deserved career renaissance of sorts in recent years, and while this sounds like a B-movie, you can understand why he would be interested in it. A problem is Aidan Turner as the younger Barr – not because he’s bad (he’s pretty good) – but because you cannot really see him turning into Elliot at any point, even after he grows the mustache. Still, his scenes work in isolation – and his romance with FitzGerald is genuinely sweet and touching.

 

Be warned, walking into the movie, that Hitler and the Bigfoot don’t actually take up much of the runtime of this movie. The movie seems to take Barr’s lead on the Hitler part of the movie. Barr isn’t proud of what he did – he says “all I did was kill a man” – and says the real heroes are the others who fought for their country, rather than just killing a single guy. The buildup to the mission is far more satisfying than the mission itself – particularly a long scene in which Barr is shaved that grows more tense as it moves along. As for Bigfoot, we’re well over an hour in before he makes any sort of appearance. I do like how the movie wastes little time in getting to him though – once the mission of tracking bigfoot starts, we pretty much cut straight to the two of them engaged in a battle of wills of sorts.

 

I’m not going to argue that the film is some deep masterwork about violence and its consequences. This isn’t Unforgiven, A History of Violence of Munich here. I just appreciated that it seems like Krzykowski came up with the most ridiculous premise he could muster, then decided to take it seriously – and deliver a film that is more character study than exploitation film – and that gives Sam Elliott the kind of role he deserves. This is a strange little film – and I liked that it zigged, when it would have been easier to zag.