Monumentally disappointing!
Winnebago Man sat at the #1 spot on my Zip.ca list for a month or more, as I greedily awaited its arrival. I enjoy the pleasures and lessons of VHS trash culture - from the Everything is Terrible! website, which sews together strangely compelling VHS clips http://www.everythingisterrible.com/ to the Found Footage Festival, where I first heard of the "Winnebago Man" phenomenon. Story is, working with abrasive pitch man Jack Rebney was such a chore for the guys hired by Winnebago to make a promotional video that they took every blooper, every one of Rebney's characteristic swearing sprees, and compiled it all into one epic display of middle-aged self-loathing. (Oh, you downtrodden salesmen of America)! Then, somehow, the tape got into other hands -- copies proliferated. Eventually the tape was so widespread that the Rebney rants became a part of pop culture lore. In fact, phrases from the underground tape were so well known that Rebney rants even made it into mainstream Hollywood films and TV.
For the record, I'd never heard of the mysterious, underground tape and I had never heard of Rebney but Ben Steinbauer had and became compelled to learn what happened to him and whether the tape had any impact on Rebney's professional or personal life. His obsessive research leads him to Rebney pretty quickly (within the film's first 20 minutes). Rebney is now in his 70s and acts as the caretaker of park area in California. But the film sputters once contact is made. Steinbauer tries to personally connect with the man, probe his life and interests and sympathize with a somewhat unlikeable, eccentric individual (who also happens to be going blind, not good for a man in self-imposed exile). There's a moment in the film where Steinbauer asks himself if he's made too big a deal out of the tape and the impact it could have had. Yes, I felt like shouting. Because basically we had 60 more minutes of movie left and I seriously doubted much more could be said on the topic of Jack Rebney.
Just like in The Best Worst Movie, a documentary that also explores the relationship between fans and actors in cult products, Steinbauer peddles Rebney around at film festivals. Somehow, this all feels like an effort to resolve something more for Steinbauer than for Rebney. Compare this with some of the actors from Troll 2, likeable people who connected well with fans they never knew they had. The Best Worst Movie is fun (hey, so is Troll 2) and there's a decent story behind the making of a cheapo horror movie that flopped but is still inexplicably beloved - but Winnebago Man doesn't recapture the same magic.
Winnebago Man sat at the #1 spot on my Zip.ca list for a month or more, as I greedily awaited its arrival. I enjoy the pleasures and lessons of VHS trash culture - from the Everything is Terrible! website, which sews together strangely compelling VHS clips http://www.everythingisterrible.com/ to the Found Footage Festival, where I first heard of the "Winnebago Man" phenomenon. Story is, working with abrasive pitch man Jack Rebney was such a chore for the guys hired by Winnebago to make a promotional video that they took every blooper, every one of Rebney's characteristic swearing sprees, and compiled it all into one epic display of middle-aged self-loathing. (Oh, you downtrodden salesmen of America)! Then, somehow, the tape got into other hands -- copies proliferated. Eventually the tape was so widespread that the Rebney rants became a part of pop culture lore. In fact, phrases from the underground tape were so well known that Rebney rants even made it into mainstream Hollywood films and TV.
For the record, I'd never heard of the mysterious, underground tape and I had never heard of Rebney but Ben Steinbauer had and became compelled to learn what happened to him and whether the tape had any impact on Rebney's professional or personal life. His obsessive research leads him to Rebney pretty quickly (within the film's first 20 minutes). Rebney is now in his 70s and acts as the caretaker of park area in California. But the film sputters once contact is made. Steinbauer tries to personally connect with the man, probe his life and interests and sympathize with a somewhat unlikeable, eccentric individual (who also happens to be going blind, not good for a man in self-imposed exile). There's a moment in the film where Steinbauer asks himself if he's made too big a deal out of the tape and the impact it could have had. Yes, I felt like shouting. Because basically we had 60 more minutes of movie left and I seriously doubted much more could be said on the topic of Jack Rebney.
Just like in The Best Worst Movie, a documentary that also explores the relationship between fans and actors in cult products, Steinbauer peddles Rebney around at film festivals. Somehow, this all feels like an effort to resolve something more for Steinbauer than for Rebney. Compare this with some of the actors from Troll 2, likeable people who connected well with fans they never knew they had. The Best Worst Movie is fun (hey, so is Troll 2) and there's a decent story behind the making of a cheapo horror movie that flopped but is still inexplicably beloved - but Winnebago Man doesn't recapture the same magic.
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