Earning considerable buzz out of Sundance and Cannes, perhaps the most distinctive thing about “Brigsby Bear” is that it’s a hard movie to sum up. However, you can thank Andy Samberg and his The Lonely Island buddies for seeing the potential in the script by the film’s star Kyle Mooney, and helping to get it made.
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“I love that movie. It came about that we, Lonely Island, have a production company now, and that script got sent to us, and we obviously love [star/co-writer] Kyle [Mooney] and [director] Dave [McCary] already. We were part of the slow movement of people that were recommending them to ‘SNL’ before they got hired, because we loved their stuff. And we read that script, and we were like, ‘Holy shit, this is awesome, this has to get made.’ ” Samberg told Collider. “So we we’d love to help any way we could, and Phil Lord and Chris Miller also did, and we kind of all joined forces to try and get it done. My main contribution, personally, was being in it I think, and now talking about it. But our then head producer, Billy Rosenberg, played a huge part, and we just gave him our thoughts. But honestly it’s really their deal. Kyle and Dave did a really awesome job, they knew what they wanted it to be tonally, and they’re so specific, that’s why we love their stuff so much. So, we kind of just let them do their thing and gave them help wherever they needed it, and it was mostly like logistical stuff, because creatively, they know exactly what they’re doing.”
The result is certainly a one-of-a-kind movie that is about, in very broad strokes, a man who is unable to let go of the past. Here’s the official synopsis:
BRIGSBY BEAR Adventures is a children’s TV show produced for an audience of one, James (Kyle Mooney). When the show abruptly ends, James’ life changes forever and he sets out to finish the story himself.
Co-starring Beck Bennett, Claire Danes, Mark Hamill, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Greg Kinnear, Kate Lyn Sheil, Ryan Simpkins, Matt Walsh and Michaela Watkins, “Brigsby Bear” opens on July 28th.