While an enormous amount of talent has gone through the doors of “Saturday Night Live,” the stars of Studio 8H haven’t always made a seamless transition to the silver screen as the many failed sketch adaptations of the 90s can attest. However, in today’s more diverse media environment, some SNL alums have discovered more success by not trying to exactly replicate a broad television formula, but by finding a more idiosyncratic tone for bringing their sensibility to movies.
Hopefully this will be the case for “Brigsby Bear,” a new film directed by SNL writer/director Dave McCary and co-written by and starring cast member Kyle Mooney. McCary and Mooney are childhood friends who, before joining SNL, formed the Los Angeles sketch comedy group Good Neighbor. “Brigsby Bear” will be McCary’s feature debut and the first starring role for Mooney, who has played supporting roles in “Zoolander 2,” Neighbors 2,” and “Hello, My Name is Doris.” Here’s the synopsis from Sundance:
After 25 years of secluded existence with his protective parents in their isolated, off-the-grid home, James is tossed out into a new life in relatively daunting Cedar Hills, Utah. As his world upends, the most shocking revelation to James is that he’s the only person who has ever watched his favorite television program, Brigsby Bear Adventures. Struggling to adjust to the show’s abrupt end, he begins to see Brigsby’s lessons as his only way to make sense of a big, scary new world, and James decides to make a movie to end Brigsby’s story—and re-begin his own.
Even if none of those elements – sheltered man-child, childhood television nostalgia, and labor of love filmmaking – are unheard of on their own, early reviews out of Sundance indicate that their combination in “Brigsby Bear” results in an endearing ode to imagination. In addition to Mooney, “Brigsby Bear” stars Claire Danes, Greg Kinnear, and Mark Hamill. In limited release on July 27th, “Brigsby Bear” could be perfect counter-programming to blockbuster season.
