Project Grizzly

As many have noted, this film is not about a man fighting a grizzly bear, despite what the pitch would seem to promise. It's about a man eccentric enough to build a suit for a rematch against a bear that once pushed him over. In other words, it's about a fricking egotistical moron with too much time and money on his hands and a documentary crew giving us the most boring version. It's Moby Dick for rednecks and this time there is no climax. Troy talks about his knives, his father and rambles almost incoherently about an encounter with a bear. He makes a number of suits and there are some funny Jackass like test runs. Had the documentary explored more of the mans psychosis (like the incredible Grizzly Man) it would be of some interest, instead it pats Troy on the head to elicit cheap laughs. You're better off going elsewhere for more intelligent and well constructed documentaries.

It was many years ago I got to get to know Troy. I met him at Cracker Jacks in Lindsay Ontario. I sat and listened to a ton of stories from this man. Troy had just finished writing a book called. White Tape. Even got him to sign it. Great friend and solid man.

This documentary follows a Canadian bear researcher who builds a bear-proof suit of armour so he can confront a grizzly bear head on and live to tell the tale. This documentary on Troy Hurtubise is nothing short of hilarious! We follow troy through his building and testing of his 'grizzly-proof' suit to his hunt for the angry bear from donut shops and biker bars to the Rocky Mountains. As it's been said here, you have to love this guy, even though he's a little out there!

'A bear of a movie that had audiences howling with laughter.' - The Toronto Star

Another fine gem from the National Film Board of Canada.

The movie was funny and brilliant. Here's your everyman trying to make something different and following a dream. The funny thing isn't that he tried to design the suit for Grizzly bears but that after the film he actually redirected his thinking towards a suit designed to protect firefighters. While doing this and discovering his suit wasn't safe unless it was fireproof, he managed to create a compound that MIT professors said couldn't be made. He created a ceramic? compound that he demonstrated in his own unique way. He placed a small brick of it on top of a helmet and had a braizing torch directed on the top of it for 10 minutes (at 5000 degrees). After 10 minutes the temperate had risen barely 10 degrees. A crackpot? no doubt :) But likely a backyard genius too. See it once and remember that not all inventions in history were used in the original purpose that the creator envisioned.

I enjoyed this film for a number of different reasons, and although it is certainly flawed, I'm definitely happy that I saw it. Troy Hurtubise comes off as an extremely likable person, and you just have to respect his effort to make a practical "grizzly-proof" suit, even if it does seem like a rather odd obsession. The movie was sometimes funny and often fascinating, so it was unfortunate that there were some boring scenes that made it past the final cut. But even with the slow spots, I have to heartily recommend this unique film. And, on a personal note, it was pretty cool to see my hometown on film...