Customer Reviews

Escanaba in Da Moonlight

5 star:		(73)
4 star:		(42)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

Escanaba in da Moonlight is a very weird movie. But then, the UP is pretty weird in itself. I think the closer you live to the bridge, the more you'll get this movie. Being from Northern Michigan, I found myself nodding amusedly with each mention of the pasty, fudgesuckers, the ever-present DNR ("stand by your vehicle, sir!") and the strange venacular. This is a funny movie, especially if you're from Michigan. The acting is the best part. The cast caught the attitude and mannerisms of residents in the UP (I know a couple of guys who are exactly like Remnar) perfectly.

I response to one reviewer's comments that the Native American ritual performed so elegantly (sarcasm, folks) by Daniels was in some way offensive. Perhaps, but I don't think it was intended to mock the Objibwe rituals. The Native American population is a strong force in the communities, at least on this particular peninsula and it, let's not forget that it was through these beliefs that Reuban finally bags his buck. Jimmy Negamanee from Menominee cracked me up and while the farting scene was crude, it was funny. Everybody needs a little toilet humor every once in awhile and deer camp is the best possible place for it.

This is in no way an outstanding film masterpiece. It's a kind of inside joke to those of us who live in Michigan, particularly the UP and maybe even us "trolls" who live under the bridge. It's funny enough and clever, well acted, if a little quriky and weird. Rent it before you buy. UP humor is certainly an aquired taste.

...that is Escanaba in da Moonlight. It is a story about a misfit searching for his place in a narrowly defined world. Set in Michigan's UP, a. k. a. the Superior State by secession minded residents, it is not commentary about the ethics of hunting or vegetarianism or any other political or lifestyle choice. Many pacifists and vegetarians loved the original play on which this film is based.
In a community whose hunting traditions run deep, Rueben Soady is buckless. He's 43 and has yet to make his right of passage; he's shunned by the entire town. Even his own friends and family don't want to hunt anywhere near him. In spite of it all he wants to fit in. This is the film's basis for universal appeal and why the play on which it was based on was so popular.
The driver's license has been called America's right of passage. At best it's a threshold to begin an adolescent quest, not complete it. Adolescence extends to the late 30s or longer for many. We call it finding ourselves-and our place in our community. The whole process is a mystery to Rueben Soady. Where will the flash of insight come from? UFOs? Is success influenced by spirits? He is clueless. He is desperate, so desperate that he's willing to subject himself to the humiliation of eating moose balls, wearing porcupine "urine" (the sensors are brutal), and breathing the foulest flatulence if that is what it takes to make the passage. Let's see if we can get out of the two-seater here. Rueben is desperate and willing, but needs the support of his family and friends. As cruel as it may be to be shunned by the community, the support of family and friends is even more affirming. Rueben must overcome a significant challenge to complete his passage and earn his place in the community. Is he up to it?
This is a story about real people who we may or may not know, to whom we may or may not relate, but we can certainly care about them, and hopefully we will learn from them. Have fun while you watch! You may even want to own it as a cult flick, but there's more to it than potty humor. These are metaphors for the all the bizare stuff we each endure in our individual quests. When we laugh at Rueben, we laugh at ourselves. We know the truth. We have lived it.
Jeff Daniels has chosen to entertain us with a comedy and uses caricatures to tell his story. Caricatures portray distortions and often offend the thin-skinned, but an insightful caricature is an exaggerated truth. This is Jeff Daniels' film. He uses his brand of comedy and it is hilarious.
One last thing, being adapted from a well-honed play, there's not much to offer as additional features for the DVD.

As a native of Michigan, this movie was a must for my DVD collection. I hadn't seen it, but felt it was my obligation to buy it - even if it ended up being terrible. Boy I'm glad I did!

It is a film that pokes some good-hearted fun at the people who live in the upper peninsula (Yoopers!) as well as deer hunters. As a person whose lifestyle is antipodal to the whole "outdoorsman / sportsman" scene, this was quite a comical story. Not one I could really "relate" to, mind you, but jovial nonetheless. In between the Jimmer and the DNR man you're sure to have a smile on your face by the time the closing credits come up.

As others have likely mentioned, this feature gets pretty strange (to say the least). In fact, the subtitle could have been "HUNTING TRIP OF THE ABSURD." But just remember - it's all in good fun. This is not the type of film that would even try to win any awards. If Samuel Beckett were a hunter, he would have loved this movie. In fact, if Beckett had been a Michigander, he might have WRITTEN this movie!

Having been the child of a deer hunter and widow growing up and watching my father spend year after year NOT bagging a buck, I found this movie absolutely hilarious. Sadly, if you don't live in Michigan, half the jokes will go right over your head. The friendly rivalry between the upper and lower pennisulas of Michigan is part of the humor involved as well as the importance Michigan men place on bagging that all important buck. I thought this movie was so funny that I saw it twice in the theatre after being convinced by a friend (who used to live in Escanaba, where the film was actually shot) to see it. I highly recommend it for anyone who lives in Michigan and even in the Midwest, though the jokes are almost entirely contextual.

Actually I'm a troll from under da bridge, but I do enjoy watching yoopers in a movie the same as everyone else!

Seriously, this movie is a spellbinding journey through the mystical and mysterious Day Before Opening Day. Jeff Daniels has created a classic and entracing tale of Rueben Soady and some close relatives (and one freaked-out DNR officer). Sure some of the humor is a litte immature (fart humor is raised to a new level), but the movie often switches to a surreal focus on Daniel's character and his plight of being the oldest Soady to never have bagged a buck.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and would recommend it to anyone who is from the upper midwest region and also to anyone who might enjoy a strange, funny, and touching story of an upper michigan hunter.

It would be hard to pigeonhole this thing into any one category, and for that I give Daniel's my bigest thanks, for shunning the Hollywood methodology and creating something very special.

I saw Jeff Daniels in concert over at the Big Tent Chautauqua next door in Wisconsin and in between singing his songs and playing the guitar he talked about having made a movie about hunting up on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. There are not a lot of movies about the U.P. ("Anatomy of a Murder" comes to mind), so I decided to track down the film and check it out. What I found was "Escanaba in da Moonlight," which is based on a play that Daniel wrote for the Purple Rose Theater in Chelsea, Michigan. Guy Sanville directed the play and helped come up with the story, but here Daniels does the screenplay, handles the directing chores, and plays the main character as well. That would be Rueben Soady, who is the shame of both the Soady family and the town of Escanaba because he has never shot a buck. That means Reuben in "buckless" (not to mention being called "Bambi's best friend), and this little 2001 film is about his attempt to do something to rectify the situation.

So, basically, if are not into hunting or tall tales told by people who hunt, then you should probably pass on this movie. The exceptions would be if you are a "Yooper" or a fan of Jeff Daniels, although I suppose if you liked "Northern Exposure" this one might appeal to you somewhat. The story is set back in the fall of 1989, when Rueben had made it 43 years "widdout baggin' a buck" as they like to say up there and Deer Season had come around again. Fortunately Rueben has on his side his wife, Wolf Moon Dance (Kimberly Norris Guerrero), who assures him that this will be his year and has followed the Ojibwe traditions in preparing him for the hunt. Reuben's father Albert (Harve Presnell of "Fargo") serves as narrator when the film demands it, while Reuben's dopey brother Remnar (Joey Albright) chortles about Deer Season as being the equivalent of "Christmas" with guns. Also joining them at the cabin is Jimmer Negamanee (Wayne David Parker), who was once abducted by aliens, and Ranger Bob (Randall Godwin) of the DNR, who stops by as well. Now all Reuben has to do is not let his father and brother, the DNR, the space aliens, God, or the strange creature making noise out there in the woods stand in the way.

I am surprised my brother-in-law Pete is not in this movie, because most of the people in the film sound like Pete does when he launches into one of his stories, although they tend to be more about Scandinavians than about hunting as a general rule. "Escanaba in da Moonlight" is a nice little comedy without pretensions and an interesting use of a moose testicle. I was actually fooled by it because I got to thinking that what was happening was really an elaborate practical joke constructed by Reuben to get back at his family, but it turns out I was on the wrong track, which is not what you want to be doing out in the woods with people carrying loaded guns. My only real complaint is that while there is a documentary about the making of the film entitled "A Picture From Home: The Journey Through 'Escanaba in da Moonlight," you will not find that here but rather on a separate DVD. So if you really love the film, Jeff Daniels, and/or happen to live in Escanaba, you would be motivated to track that down, otherwise your experience will end here with the movie itself.

It may be because I was born in Michigan and the characters were 'familiar', but I adore this movie! My family was rolling on the floor laughing. I'm getting my father's side of the family (Michiganders) all a copy for Christmas. My mother's side (Southerners) may not 'get' this brand of humor, but I'll buy them a copy too. Hilarious fun! I remember 'bobbing across the bridge' often in my youth to buy fudge in the U.P. of Michigan. I'm an unapologetic 'Fudgesucker'. Brings back memories. If you enjoyed 'The Great Outdoors' with John Candy, you'll love this one.
Chrissy K. McVay - Author

When things start going strange in the UP, they go seriously strange.

This is your typical boy-bags-buck story- only the boy is in his mid-40's and is known around town (Escanaba) as the "Buckless-Yuper." In fact, if he doesn't bag a buck this season he will go down in Soady family history as the oldest family member never to bag a buck. In fact his uncle (the family idiot) even bagged a buck by shooting through the outhouse wall. So, he shows up at the family deer camp for the 30th season in a row. But no one wants to hunt with him because they are convinced that he is cursed. It doesn't help that strange things start happening- from the whiskey going bad and the numbers on the playing cards changing, to UFO's and marauding bear spirits. My personal favorite scene is the family's decision to sacrifice a DNR ranger to appease the evil spirits.

It's a hoot, but then I used to live in the deep woods in the western UP- just north of the Mystery Lights (so nothing surprises me anymore.) Those folks from big cities like Escanaba always were a might high-strung.

Who ever thought of using Jeff Daniels from "Dumb and Dumber" deserves an award for good casting. Wait a minute- Daniels WROTE it- that explains things.

Escanaba in Da Moonlight is a hysterical film about the traditions of deer hunters, and one family's bizarre ordeal on the opening day of deer season.

The first film in actor/director Jeff Daniels' Purple Rose film company, which will make films exclusively in his home state of Michigan, Escanaba in Da Moonlight is a gem of a comedy. And while the humor will especially hit home for residents of Michigan's Upper Peninsula (The Superior state, as they call it), and those living in other "deer country" states such as Wisconsin and Minnesota, this movie has plenty of laughs for everyone.

Centering on the Soady family on their annual cabin trip the first day of deer season, the film explores the trials and tribulations of the "buckless yupper," Reuben Soady, (Jeff Daniels).

Now, fair warning, this movie gets pretty bizarre. Among the occurrences the Soady family has on its day of hunting are UFO's, a government agent gone mental, possession and Native American superstitions.

But all the insanity leads to big laughs. And it doesn't let up until near the end, where the only flaw lies. The film crosses the line of becoming too sentimental, offering too much cheese. If Daniels toned it down a bit at the end, the film would have been perfect.

But the film is still a highly enjoyable look at the world of the "U.P." (The Upper Peninsula), and is worth multiple viewings. Make it a tradition to watch this on the opening day of deer season. It's well worth it.

I saw this film in the theatre and was thrilled that it came out on DVD and Video. I grew up along the Great Lakes States and have known hunters all my live. I recently saw this with a Michigan DNR officer who said that there are hunters like those Jeff Daniels has brought to life in this film. It is a fun movie to watch and made me laugh. I don't think it has much of a redeaming social value, but it was one that I could watch with my teenage sons and all of us could enjoy. I am not sure if one needs to be from hunting territory to enjoy it, or the Midwest, but it is enjoyable non the less. Jeff Daniels is a local boy who knows his roots, it is nice to see him do independent films as well as the blockbusters.