Pottersville

This movie sneaks up on you. You aren't getting the recent rash of over the top brash and crass movies of the current era. You are getting a cute and in the end a heart-warming comedy.

To begin, this movie comes at us from a small, down on its luck town who's main employer "The Mill" has recently closed. Maynard is one of the few remaining business owners, and his corner store is the focal point of the town. This is much like many small towns across America, so many viewers can relate.

The movie portrays a few pretty typical characters you might also find in those small towns and exaggerates their personalities just enough to make them quite amusing, but not overdone like an SNL skit.

One character that IS over the top is the "Monster Hunter" that comes into the town searching for bigfoot. (In a not so veiled spoof of Bear Grilles or similar reality star.) He is ridiculously funny, but it somehow fits.

To Me, this is a great movie to watch with the whole family. Three are a few scenes with minor sexual overtones, but PG is how I would rate it. And I can only recall a few occasions of foul language.

I mention these things because I feel the shocking nature of many films today is borne of laziness. Writers and directors who are out of ideas and fall back on foul language and shock value as an answer to comedy. This movie breaks that mold and still generates the laughs.

So the bottom line is, if you are looking for a caustic f-bomb fest, this isn't the movie for you. Go watch The Hangover or something else. Those are funny movies for sure, but his movie takes a different route.

This movie has great acting, a great story and surprisingly funny scenes. A great way to spend an hour and a half with the family!

The movie has a great feel to it with cool retro production design. But ultimately, the story is just kind of slow. A guy in a marriage crisis dresses up as a gorilla one night when he gets sloppy drunk and runs around town, causing witnesses to believe they've seen Bigfoot. Every - including a reality TV monster hunter - descend on the small town. But it's really more of a premise than a story that pulls you along. Plus it's quirky with some fun moments, but it's not really LOL funny.

I am puzzled that this movie has mainly bad critic reviews. It's not the best movie you will ever see, but it is entertaining.

One night, small-town shopkeeper Maynard (Michael Shannon) gets depressed and drunk, runs around in a gorilla costume, and starts a Bigfoot craze, which revives the town's failing economy. He then goes out night after night, managing to be seen by nearly everyone in town, but never caught. OK, you have to suspend disbelief a bit here - doesn't anyone suspect it's just a guy in a costume, or see him sneaking in or out of his store? Anyway, eventually a Bigfoot hunter arrives in town (Thomas Lennon) with an accent which is a horrible mash-up of Australian, New Zealander and South African(fortunately, that is played for laughs); and a Bigfoot hunts ensues.

The movie is both silly, and with a bit of heart. The ending is a bit rushed, but otherwise it was very enjoyable.

A down on its luck mining town finds a new life when locals begin seeing a bigfoot. Before long, there are tourists in town, cash registers ringing, and a nationally syndicated television show scouring the woods for a sasquatch. It's a Christmas miracle - or is it?

My rating for Pottersville seems at odds with conventional wisdom. It's obvious that I enjoy this one much, much more than most people. For many reason, the film worked for me. The cast is brilliant - from Michael Shannon playing against character to the always enjoyable Judy Greer to the gruff but funny Ian McShane, I had a blast with the cast. The plot is a another plus for me. It's just quirky enough to keep me entertained throughout. The bits about the furries, the bigfoot sightings, and the "unique" townspeople are all interesting touches. I've read several complaints about the lack of real comedy and, while I can agree to a point, there are enough moments that made me at least smile that I didn't need to laugh out loud to find the comedy enjoyable. Overall, I had a good time with Pottersville and have no problems rating it higher than most others.

My biggest complaint with Pottersville and the thing that keeps me from rating it higher is Tom Lennon. A little Lennon goes a long way. He's given way, way too much screentime. I admit that some of his interactions with Ian McShane and the Nelson Mandela song dedicaiton were quite funny, but overall, he's annoying. Less Lennon and I might have rated Pottersville even higher.

I can absolutely see this plot done in the '40s with any of the screwball comedy stars. It's well made, top to bottom, one of those that feels like everyone involved went home satisfied with their work. It is amusing to watch actors so capable of intensity 'play house with the kids'. It took a while to stop expecting someone to pick up a baseball bat and beat somebody to death.