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Why so much hype?

best movie i've ever seen.

A lot of fun.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

In 1989 Jack Rebney made a series of videos promoting Winnebago products. The shoot was not a happy one, taking place in Iowa during midsummer, and Rebney became highly frustrated with his efforts. Unbeknownst to him the camera crew edited many of the outtakes together and released them on VHS; they showed Rebney cursing everything and everyone in the basest terms.Due in no small part to the ease of copying tapes, the video became something of a cult with Rebney cast as "The Angriest Man in the World." With the advent of the internet its popularity soared - so much so, in fact, that filmmaker Ben Steinbauer was persuaded to search for Rebney's whereabouts and find out what he had been doing since the videos were made.WINNEBAGO MAN follows a familiar thematic path with Steinbauer at first finding difficulties in his quest, then discovering Rebney; trying to establish a relationship with Rebney; and at the end persuading the reluctant ex-salesperson to appear at a fan convention in San Francisco dedicated to the original video. Steinbauer manufactures a happy ending in which the fans congratulate Rebney, and the old man returns home apparently touched by their affection for him.But that is not how the documentary pans out. Throughout the action there remains the distasteful suspicion that Rebney's sensibilities are being willfully exploited by the filmmaker. Now in his mid-seventies with a glaucoma rendering him almost blind, Rebney uses aggression to compensate for his shortcomings, and by doing so conforms precisely to that sobriquet that has stuck to him ever since 1989. At one point he tries to act calm, but eventually admits that this was nothing more than a form of pretense.In truth it's not Rebney who pretends, but Steinbauer himself. Saddled with the responsibility of making an "hilarious" film for the fans, he willfully allows Rebney to give vent to his anger. The fact that he is now a frail old person seems irrelevant. When the two of them end up in San Francisco, the sight is grotesque: I was reminded of the most notorious sequences in Tod Browning's FREAKS (1932) in which the disadvantaged were presented for our entertainment.The film reveals one of the seamier aspects of fan studies: whereas people of all classes, ages and ethnicities might be devoted to a particular text, their addiction can destroy as well as enhance. This is precisely what happens to Rebney. For all the director's attempts to manufacture a happy ending, the old man's melancholy expression (revealed in close-up at the end), denotes his true state of mind.

There is only so much to know about people who aren't willing to share who they are, but Ben Steinbauer tried milking every bit of information he could about the reclusive, well-read curmudgeon Jack Rebney, who is reluctantly the star of his own Outtake reel on YouTube. The result is a film, very similar to Alan Berliner's classic "Nobody's Business". In that, a filmmaker tries to get through to a broken down man. Jack Rebney is about as broken down as an old Winnebago, minus the accoutrement. As evident in the clip online, and in this documentary, Rebney hates the 21st century, and stupid people, and Dick Cheney... but mostly Dick Cheney. Jack is an exceptional human being, despite his temperament, and about as wise any elder you know of. Against his will, perhaps, he unravels here with the help of introspective filmmaker. This is a hilarious, fascinating documentary.

This film petered off about 30 minutes into it. That isn't the worst thing about the movie. That would have to be the Director of the movie. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.This film begins like most documentaries, by giving some context. We are given a short history of Viral Videos and a little info about the Director's experience's watching the Winnebago Man in his youth. This was all very interesting and put together in a not glorious, but sustainable fashion. The Director spends some time looking into how to get in touch with the Winnebago Man, and is unsuccessful at first. We do get to meet the crew which was around during the shoot, which is probably the best part of the movie. Later we see the Winnebago Man and he gives a dishonest view of his opinion of his fame.Its at this point the film heads south. We are treated to another hour of psycho babble (and drama) about the Winnebago Man by the Director. The worst part is the way it is so transparent the Director is trying to use his subject to help out the film instead of trying to document the Winnebago Man as he is. Its kind of funny that he mentions that he taught a class in Austin (which would explain the lack of good films from there).The climax of the film is the Winnebago Man speaking at some "hip" SF show, which shows viral videos. I'm guessing nobody told any of these hipsters about Youtube, as they watch reruns from "America's Funniest Home Videos." At this point the Winnebago Man and his gay counterpart (a character I willfully forgot to mention), go and get some wine from some chic bar and the film shortly ends afterward.This film isn't terrible, its just not very good. The way the Director forces himself into scenes and acts dishonestly towards the audience leaves one with a sense of discomfort. It would have helped if the Director looked at more accomplished film makers like Werner Herzog and tried to make the film in that same vein. Instead we are treated with 90 minutes which gives little more satisfaction than watching a 1 minute viral video.

I just saw Winnebago Man at the Traverse City Film Festival. It was ironic because I originally had the same attitude as Jack has in the movie: why the heck would I want to watch a movie about some guy swearing on RV commercial outtakes? It's amusing but not really my idea of comedy I'd want to spend money on, so I almost didn't purchase a ticket. I decided to take a chance on it anyway, rarely has the TCFF steered us wrong (*cough* soccer *cough*) and I'm really glad I did! This movie, and it's main character Jack Rebney, is both funny and deeply philosophical. This is one of those films (and real-life characters) that you want to watch several times to pick up on all the layers. Not only is Jack Rebney the greatest swearer of all time, but he's also smart, sharp witted, annoying, and endearing all rolled into one man. I hope that a publisher does pick up his book, It would really be interesting to read an entire book of his thoughts, even better to have the book on audio read by him. Anyway, this movie is highly recommended, you won't be disappointed!