Brigsby Bear - Movie Review

The past 20 years have changed a lot of media. Better technologies, more complex writing and stories, new members, and the inclusion of new ideas. While all of this has been around for much longer, the internet has drastically changed the way all these new pieces of media have changed hands. This is especially true with the current "Mii Generation," (thanks Pyschology class for teaching me that term) the people who are now in their 20s and 30s. These people, including myself, were born around the time where television and movies really started to make itself known to the world and we're looking at pieces from our childhood with nostalgia. Now with the internet we're able to tell all what made us the people who we are now. For instance, Ed, Edd, n' Eddy was the show that inspired me the most when I was little because of how the main characters, despite being poor, unpopular, and infamous, could be so happy with their crazy adventures. So this week I'm talking about a film that is kind of a visualization of this concept of nostalgia: Brigsby Bear.

Brigsby Bear is about a man named James (Kyle Mooney), who for the last 25 years has been living with his father Ted (Mark Hamill) and his mother April (Jane Adams). He's never been to the outside world before because it's dangerous and so he was raised on long-running television show named Brigsby Bear. One day though their bunker is targeted in a police raid and James learns that his life is a lie. Ted and April are not his real parents, he was kidnapped when he was a newborn, Brigsby Bear was all made up and created by Ted, and soon he is reunited with his real parents, Greg (Matt Walsh) and Louise (Michaela Watkins), along with his little sister, Aubrey (Ryan Simpkins). But his memories of Brigsby Bear have not faded and his (almost obsessive) love of the show causes him to share it with others. When a few close people take interest in it as well, James decides to make a movie and add a true conclusion to the long running series.

What first got me interested in this show was seeing that Mark Hamill was one of the main actors. While he's absolute legend for his portrayals of Luke Skywalker and the Joker, along with his incredible voice acting, I haven't seen him much in live action films. Learning about the premise of the film though was what really got me interested in the movie. Seeing somebody want to have a finale to a cancelled show they love is an idea that's very... personal to me. I've made friends with artists of all kinds over the years and I've seen them desiring to tell their own stories and share their inspirations with others. Like I've got a close friend who makes a comic series about monsters and humans going through regular life situations from dating to going to the zoo. I have another friend who can copy any cartoon art style and another who made a race of robots with endless pages of details and lore that I wish I could see more of! That's what this movie felt like, somebody trying to bring their own idea to a wider audience. And for that, and passion put into it, this film really tugged on my heartstrings.

There was a quite a bit of production in the movie itself. The Brigsby Bear show felt like it was from the 80s and early 90s with it's old grainy quality and massive use of props. Like it felt so incredibly real I almost wonder if it was a real show made in our world, like the Mandela effect was happening to me. I also saw editing, animation, special effects, and storyboarding (to name a few) for James's movie. It felt so uplifting to watch James try hard to make this unknown story more known and he really did try. He bought books on how to storyboard, direct, and make movies, brought in people to be additional actors, even had Ted (a now convicted felon) do voice-over work like in the original show. What makes it all better though is that it becomes a way for James to integrate into society better than being given random activities from his counselor and parents because he's hanging out with and making new friends and experience things they all can connect with. Watching all this happen, I often had a smile on my face because while it did point out that he needs help getting back into society, he wasn't mocked for his problems and his friends and family really cared for him.

The acting for this film was pretty dang good. Kyle Mooney does an excellent job at being an outsider, a newcomer to the modern world. He felt so out of place in the world, but he still was charming and pleasant to watch. There was a lot of dedication and passion put into the performance, especially when he spoke with others about Brigsby Bear. It wasn't just fanboying, but more like he was an expert, explaining the ups and downs of the show, along with recommending certain episodes to people, like a person who truly understands what he's talking about. James had an unbreakable spirit and passion for his interests while being respectful of other people. He was also odd enough that we could sympathize with him and his problems with people trying have him quit his dreams.

It wasn't just Kyle who did well, there were great performances all around. Yes, we have the legendary Mark Hamill putting on a great performance, but Matt Walsh and Michaela Watkins were also very good as James's real parents. I also really liked Jorge Lendeborg Jr. as Spencer, the first non-famiy person James informs about Brigsby Bear and who becomes very important in the creation of the movie. There is also an investigator named Vogel played by Greg Kinnear was also great, he was very friendly while trying to take his job seriously. I would have liked some more dialogue and interaction from background characters because unless a character had a name, they didn't do anything for the film. Everyone also felt very realistic in their performances, like the adults acted like real adults and the teens/ young adults were very mellow and acted like real people. In stories like this you always expect at least one person to act a little more outlandish, but that's not the case for Brigsby Bear, which is fantastic!

The comedy was also pretty great in the film. With most of the producers having worked with SNL, they know how to make people laugh and smile. For example, there is a point where James is high and running about he somehow encounters the main villain of Brigsby Bear, Sunstealer (voiced by Mark Hamill's evil voice), who tells James that he's pathetic for tripping balls so easily. There are plenty of other moments though that made me laugh that weren't associated with drugs and other lowbrow stuff. A lot of it worked because of Kyle's performance being so out of touch with other people, along with people questioning the idea of Brigsby Bear. Comedy wasn't the main element of the movie, but it did work pretty well.

Something odd about this film that might put some people off is the Stockholm Syndrome being played off as if it's nothing. While Disney's animated Beauty and the Beast made it seem romantic, it's not like that at all. James being stuck in a bunker with fake parents for all his life and kind of ignoring the fact he was kidnapped might bother people and it somewhat did for me. However, I also found that he was still friendly enough with others and he wasn't treated badly by his fake family. In fact the movie suggests that the reason he was kidnapped was something possibly tragic for Ted and April. Still, I have a feeling some people will not look at James like he's a normal person the audience should support, but somebody with a serious case of denial.

My main issue with the film though isn't that, it's the pacing. As magical as it was to watch a man follow his dreams, I felt like there were story beats missing from the movie. There could have been more struggle shown for James readjusting to society, we never got to fully learn why Ted and April kidnapped and raised James, and there were a few other beats that felt off for me. There were also a couple moments in the film that felt unneeded or could have been directed/ scripted better. I would have liked the movie longer to dive into some of these missing moments that could have improved the film if explained. Maybe it's because our main writer (who also plays James) and his other friends who worked on the film all work for SNL and they wanted to add some pizazz. It did work, but I also felt that sacrificed some good storytelling we could have gotten.

I also would have loved to learn more of the original Brigsby Bear show. It seems Ted used it to teach James all about life, but it seems like there was a absolute truckload of story and conflict as well. It felt like an anime with how much story and characters there were in it. The main villain of the show was a talking moon or planet of sorts called Sunstealer, yet despite barely getting to know them they sounded terrifying. It sounds weird that I'm incredibly eager to learn more of the lore of a fake TV show, but holy hell I am! Like when the movie starts there was over 25 volumes of Brigsby Bear (which I think would be equivalent to 20 seasons of a show), each over 24 episodes long (though I couldn't get an exact number). That's anime levels of story!

Overall the film to me is about two things: Moving on and the dangers of nostalgia. When we are too in the past we're blind to future and what it can do to us and other people. But we should also be able to hold onto a bit of ourselves as we develop. That's what I took away from the ending of the movie, which felt just right for this film. This story could have easily been screwed up by being melodramatic, offensive, or just by being mean to our main character by saying he's a freak for being obsessed with a show that, on the surface, appears to be for kids. But the script is so caring and genuine that it worked very well at tugging at my emotions.

Brigsby Bear was a very pleasant experience and a film I think more people should see, especially those with creative minds. I'm very sad this film hasn't gotten the notoriety it deserves because it was very original, unique, funny, and heartfelt in its execution. While it has its problems, I absolutely do recommend Brigsby Bear. It's like a flawed Swiss Army Man, which is one of my favorite films of all time. It seems to be harder to find than most films (probably because it wasn't released as widely), but I think it's very much worth watching. Be open to this film, let your wonder run rampant, and enjoy the power of nostalgia with Brigsby Bear!

Tentative Score: 8/10

Further research into the movie also unearthed that the marketing, while too small to get real notice, was done very well by showing the film, but not spoiling what it was about. Also the film was made a small budget, less than $5 million.