Brigsby Bear Review

PG13: thematic elements, brief sexuality, drug material and teen partying 

Sony Pictures Classics, Lord Miller Productions, Kablamo!, 3311 Productions, YL Pictures, The Lonely Island

1 Hour and 40 Minutes

Cast: Kyle Mooney, Mark Hamill, Greg Kinnear, Michaela Watkins, Claire Danes, Andy Samberg, Matt Walsh, Beck Bennett, Ryan Simpkins, Jane Adams, Jorge Lendeborg Jr. Alexa Demie

INTRO: Back in 2016, I attended the premiere of Zoolander 2. There I was able to mingle with many people including actors and filmmakers. One of the people that I met there was Kyle Mooney whose shorts on SNL I was very fond of. I asked him about how does he makes those shorts, and he pointed me to his friend Dave McCary who writes/directs a lot of the shorts featured on the show. I did not know anything about Good Neighbor (the sketch comedy web series Dave & Kyle created along with Beck Bennett and Nick Rutherford) at the time for SNL was all I knew of Mooney's work. Little did I expect that in the next year McCary and Mooney would eventually create one of the best films I have seen this year.

Brigsby Bear Adventures is a children's TV show produced for an audience of one: James. When the show abruptly ends, James's life changes forever, and he sets out to finish the story himself. 

THE GOOD: One of the first things that need to be known is that this independent feature is financed by The Lonely Island, (Akiva Schaffer, Andy Samberg, and Jorma Taccone) Phil Lord, and Christopher Miller whom all serve as executive producers. With both comedic teams working on this movie, it would be expected for this to be a balls-to-the-wall comedy but instead, this tells the story of a 20-year-old man who was abducted as an infant and was raised in a cult like a manner until he was rescued. At first, one may think this takes place in a dystopian future based off of the first ten minutes of the movie, but then in an instant, it dramatically shifts to a darker narrative.

Think of it as Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt but instead of focusing on the light hearted aspect of the situation especially since it is from the perspective of its ineptly innocent lead character, its balanced by the side characters treating this more seriously than him. 

Opposed to other comedians who have played man children in their careers (Will Ferrell or Jason Segal for example), Mooney’s performance as James is far more superior to others by far. James' immaturity is excused due to his tragic upbringing based on his introduction. The only thing anyone can do is to sympathize with him as he just wants to get Brigsby's story completed his way. Mooney's performance is never obnoxious, or over the top to a point he becomes annoying. His performance keeps James grounded as both a dimensional character and a likable human being. This is an example of a comedian showing off his dramatic acting ability, and doing a damn great job doing so. In fact, the majority of the cast are comedic actors with comedic backgrounds such as Matt Walsh of Veep, Michaela Watkins of Casual, and Beck Bennett of SNL and they all deliver stupendous performances. It is as if they all took a break from being comedic actors to just being, actors. Shoot, Andy Samberg shows up in the movie, and he is very calm and reserved opposed to the Andy Samberg we see in nearly everything.

What makes the film, so special more than the other films released this year is likability and the humanity of all the characters. Because of this taking place in such a small town, nobody is condescending towards James since everyone knows him from the news. When James goes to a party with his sister, nobody treats him awkwardly. He even makes friends with one of her friends who tries to help him come out of his comfort zone and becomes his best friend throughout the entire process of filming his Brigsby movie. Dynamics like that are not seen that much in movies nowadays too, so it's refreshing to see the friendliness of people willing to help one person achieve their dream.

Director Dave McCary does a great job humanizing his entire cast and showing his audience that these comedic actors are also actors. Brigsby Bear is a comedy-drama that is effective as a comedy as its effectiveness as a drama. Besides working well as a drama, the comedy is also pretty balanced. Nobody is trying to crack a joke or anything when the humor primarily comes from James’ innocence. All the man knows is Brisgby Bear and when his entire life is changed in an instance, he focuses on one goal. The emotion you feel for James, his family, and everyone involved in his life is not manipulative like most dramas you see nowadays. 

The movie has a surprising amount of theatrical value behind it. The cinematography has more visual flair than other comedies produced by The Lonely Island, but the amazing part of it is whenever it is focused on the Brigsby Bear show. Since this is a fictional television show that bears the likeness to H.R. Pufnstuf and Teddy Ruxpin, it is filmed in an 80s format that uses interlaced scan lines effects that are known from VHS tapes. It is impressive of how nostalgically that aspect is captured.  There are moments that even you feel Brigsby Bear is real as much as James believes him to be.

The screenplay written by Kevin Costillo and Kyle Mooney should be considered as a frontrunner for Best Original Screenplay in next year's awards season. It is amazingly surprising to see a film like this excel at telling an original, constructive, and poignant story. If one thought there was no talent to Kyle Mooney outside of Good Neighbor and SNL, Brisgby Bear is proof in the pudding that he is capable of doing far more than what people see him do on television. Not only leading the film but also providing an emotional screenplay, the man should be commended for such hard work that is shows nothing but valiant effort. Never have there been a film released in 2017 that was so grounded and balanced in both comedy and emotional depth since….The Big Sick which was not so long ago. 

It is going to be a hard award season for next year. 2017 has officially become the year of the comedic actors taking over Hollywood. We had comedian Jordan Peele sweeping up the world by storm with his directorial debut, Get Out. Kumail Nujiani charming audiences with The Big Sick on both the writing (along with his wife Emily V. Gordon) and acting front even when comedian Michael Showalter directed it. Moreover, now there is comedian Kyle Mooney with his magnum opus, Brigsby Bear. It is so overwhelming to see how far these performers have gotten and how much greatness they have proven themselves to achieve.

THE BAD: Honestly there is nothing to say against this film. Brigsby Bear is one of those rare films that is heartfelt, earnest, and most of all displays the talent of people others would not ever expect to see. This is a damn near perfect film with a high rewatch value where it can be viewed again, and people will still get immersed into James’ life changing journey all over again. 

LAST STATEMENT: With excellent performances from the entire ensemble with Mooney driving the helm and an impressive directorial debut for Dave McCary, Brigsby Bear is a triumphantly deeply moving gem that's sure to be an instant classic. If Mooney & McCary get more film opportunities in the future and end up leaving SNL, this movie is to blame. I honestly wished Lorne Michaels put his money behind this so I could acclaim this to be the best SNL film to date. 

Rating: 5/5 | 96%

Super Scene: James’ first party.