"Strange Wilderness" is a good-natured, frequently hilarious takeoff on all those nature documentaries that play on the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet, and whose pedigree stretches all the way back to the granddaddy of them all, "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom." Peter and Fred are the producers of a wildlife series entitled "Strange Wilderness" that has been foundering in the ratings ever since Peter's father, a Steve Irwin-type naturist and the original host of the show, passed away, leaving his less-than-stellar son to carry on his legacy. The sheer scientific illiteracy of much of the commentary that Peter provides for his footage probably hasn't helped matters much in this regard. Now faced with the prospect of series cancellation, Peter and his crew of incompetent dweebs head off to the wilds of South America to file an exclusive report on the famed Bigfoot who has recently been spotted there.

Though adolescent in the extreme, "Strange Wilderness" turns out to be a zany, endearingly random and unflaggingly energetic little comedy whose likable cast is obviously dialed into what the movie makers are trying to do here. Steve Zahn, Allen Covert, Covert, Ernest Borgnine, Jeff Garlin, Kevin Heffernan, Justin Long and Harry Hamlin seem to be having the time of their lives here and their enjoyment rubs off on us as well.

Is it dumb? Of course it is. Is it lowbrow, inane and hopelessly juvenile? You betcha'. But unlike so many other films that fall into those categories, "Strange Wilderness" has a shrewd mind for parody and a liveliness of spirit that actually make the movie funny. Credit scenarist Peter Gaulke and co-author/director Fred Wolf (who first developed this concept as sketches on "Saturday Night Live") for some excellent joke-writing and pacing and for their willingness to pull out all the stops in their effort to get the laugh. In fact, the crew's ill-fated encounter with Bigfoot is alone worth the price of admission.

Strange Wilderness (2008): Dir: Fred Wolf / Cast: Steve Zahn, Alan Covert, Ashley Scott, Kevin Hefferman, Jonah Hill: A pitiful comedy about man's relationship with nature. Too bad the screenwriter didn't get it on quite as well with the screenplay. Steve Zahn and Allen Covert host a nature program that is threatened with termination so they set out to film Bigfoot. Lame setup fades into routine road movie clichés and gross humour. Director Fred Wolf does his best but production is cheap right down to the rubbery looking Bigfoot costume. The idea of Zahn and Covert as nature hosts is appealing but they quickly becomes props to the clichés and juvenile humour. Zahn storms into a hospital after a turkey tried to "gobble" his penis. Covert is seen but does little. Ashley Scott serves no other purpose other than to be presented as a sex object for the guys. Kevin Hefferman scores a few laughs as a former mechanic and alcoholic but perhaps if the film was about this guy then maybe its chances of being funny would increase. This is a major deduction for Jonah Hill after his hilarious work in Superbad. Unfortunately he too becomes lost within a parade of idiocy. This is Fred Wolf's second unfunny comic mess this year. He also helmed the extreme xeroxed bunny brained House Bunny as well. This is a stupid comedy that should be stomped upon by Bigfoot itself. Score: 2 ½ / 10

Steve Zahn as the host of a wildlife TV show facing cancellation. If he doesn't come up with something big in two weeks the show is off the air. (I could tell you more but why bother) This is the current front runner for worst film of the year. Unfunny in the extreme (there are two laughs in the whole movie),this is a movie where you sit there stone face waiting for something to happen. It never does. What the heck happened? The trailers were funny and the making of things were funny, but the film just lays there like a rotting raccoon on the side of the road. Its so bad that even the funny bits from the trailers fall flat in context of the film. I was so shocked at how lacking in laughs the film was I simply sat there waiting for a laugh to come even though I should have gotten up and gone home. The film is stupid and dumb, and is kind of watchable on its own, totally devoid of humor terms, but its suppose to be a comedy and it simply has none. How bad is it? It is one of the rare films that provoke the reaction "Hey at least the topless women have nice breasts". Since this is not a Girls Go Wild video I have to put it on the worst of the year list because the best thing I can say about a film shouldn't be the topless women.