Customer Reviews

Escanaba in da Moonlight - Acting Edition

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I don't know where the lady from Kansas got her information, but I have had a hunting camp north of Escanaba, off of Rt. 35, for the past 40 years. The real natives do talk like that. Jeff Daniels has hit the nail on the head. After seeing the play 2 years ago, it is great to read the lines that you missed with the laughter in the audience.

Being from Quinnesec, MI, which is only 50 miles from Escanaba, I can totally relate. I didn't have a chance ta see da movie, but I will definitely get da movie when it comes out on DVD. Dat lady from KS doesn't know nuttin 'bout da UP. Alla' us guys up here talk like dat fer sure. She's nuttin but a dern troll, dat's what I say. I tink dis book was a really good portrayal of hunters in da UP. Pasties fer everyone! 'Cept dem darn trolls, dat is.

While I haven't read the book, I did see the movie in Rhinelander last spring. This show had its hilarious moments, but was one of the most bizarre movies I have ever seen. People really do talk like that in the UP and you will either love it or hate it. The characters were amazing in their portrayal of deerhunters. It is not for the squeamish of stomach, but portays a culture that does exist. Hopefully they will put the movie out on DVD or VHS.

Whether you are a hunter, or familiar with the hunting family, then this is the book for you. Hilarity to no end, Daniels has hit the nail on the head with 'Escanaba'. I've seen the play twice and read the book a number of times and I rolled on the floor laughing. If you haven't seen it or haven't read it, make it a point to do so!

If you want to get some real belly laughs read this book. It was well written. Can't wait for the movie to come out on video. I think it will become a real cult film!

Anyone who lives in da UP knows that people do talk like they do in the movie, contrary to some previous reviews. Some parts of the movie were exagerated but that makes it funny! I thought the element of the Wisconsin Beer the "Schlitz" was true to the UP culture! One would only understand this detail worth mentioning if you understand that the football team of the UP is the Greenbay Packers of Wisconsin and not the Detroit Lions of Michigan. Also, every true hunter has some secret to "bagging the big one" that is like the "Bearwak" in the movie. Additionally, everone who has been to Deer Camp has stories that are like the ones portrayed in the movies.If you like pastys, beer, and hunting; you will like this movie.

To the woman from Kansas. If you have ever truly seen the UP you will discover that not all yoopers talk this way. True born and breed yoopers do. You must not have spent much time there or exployerd the area very much! This is an excellent example of the UP lifestyle! I think you have to be from MI to understand this humor though.

I'm pretty sure the folks in Michigan, especially those living in or near the upper pennisula, love this play--but if there is such a thing as "regional theatre," then ESCANABA IN DA MOONLIGHT is all of that and then some.

Albert Soady, his family, and his friends have been going to a deer camp located near Escanaba for generations now, the deer camp essentially a rough wooden lodge where the hunters live while trying their luck. Trouble is, Albert's oldest son Reuben has never in all these years killed a deer. Not one. And now he's about to become the oldest person every to stay at the camp who has never killed a deer. He finds this deeply disturbing, but not to worry: his wife, an Indian woman named Wolf Moon Dance, has given him a few charms calculated to give him an edge. These include a drink made from moose testicals and a jar of porcupine urine. Unfortunately, these charms don't seem to summon a deer, but instead an old coot called "The Jimmer," who claims to have been once abducted by a UFO, and DNR officer Tom T. Treado, who is peturbed because he just saw God on a nearby ridge.

Needless to say, moose testical juice is drunk, porcupine urine is splattered, strange lights appear in the sky, and Indian chants are heard in the mysterious night--and the play includes one fart joke after another, most of them related to The Jimmer. Patriarch Albert Soady narrates throughout, and ultimately the great deer appears, ready for the killing. But can Rubean do it without a screw up? Well, let's just say that Wolf Moon Dance is on his side.

I can see how the play would be funny, but I also think one would have to know the region pretty well in order to get the characters, the joke, and most particularly the dialect. If you do, you'll love it. If you don't, you'll be like me: turning the pages and feeling somewhat mystified. Recommended, but mainly to folks from that part of the country.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

This movie is one of my favorites, partly because of Michigan's favorite son, Jeff Daniels and also because of the crazy-smart comedic performances.

My local theatre troup put on the play and I played Wolf Moon Dance since I was the only female. This is where I fell in love with the writing, the characters and the subtle nuances of comedic genius.

I am a loyal fan of this play, movie and also the making of the movie dvd. If you don't get this type of comedy - well i can't help ya der. It's a class act - two holer and all.

This movie definitely depicts the realities of deer camp. Jeff Daniels couldn't have gotten it better. Anyone in Wisconsin, Minnesota or Michigan knows that every deer camp has its superstitions, rituals and stories of the big bucks that got away. Remember, what happens in deer camp, stays in deer camp.