Rockin' On

A film that posits a world in which giant fake-looking anthropomorphic bears walk among us without people noticing that they look any different from other humans, and a select group of them have been the biggest country-rock band in this alternate-reality world for many years (songs actually penned by John...

By Luke Y. Thompson

July 25, 2002

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A film that posits a world in which giant fake-looking anthropomorphic bears walk among us without people noticing that they look any different from other humans, and a select group of them have been the biggest country-rock band in this alternate-reality world for many years (songs actually penned by John Hiatt). Did we mention that things sometimes move into fast-motion at random or that Christopher Walken, as an evil banker ("I hate you beahzzzz!"), goes pantsless in one scene while walking around in green bunny slippers? Mix equal parts Blues Brothers (cameos galore and premise), Behind the Music (post-decline big comeback), Almost Famous (kid traveling on his heroes' tour bus) and Ernest Goes to Camp (evil bank vs. goofy Southerners) with a massive dose of acid, and you've got it. Though one hates to condone theme park attraction movies (next up, Pirates of the Caribbean with Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush--really), this film is just too damn weird to pass up, and for the blacklight crowd, way cheaper (and better) than Pink Floyd tickets. Shame the talking moosehead's MIA, though.

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