Brother Blue
By Gene Monterastelli
August 22, 2005 by Gene

Grizzly Man (The Movie)

Short Review: Wait until it is on DVD.
Long Review: The good and bad of documentary is the fact is it is not actors. Good, because we get true story of daily life, not contrived. Bad, because the director is not working with people who are trained to be in front of the camera. Werner Herzog, the director, is know to re-shoot interviews to better telling of the story. Sometimes this works because the subject, a non natural storyteller, does a better job. Sometimes it seems poorly acted. A number of the interviews in this movie seem to be doing bad, overacted addition tapes. One guy, an actor, keeps looking wistfully into the ocean each time he makes a (overly) dramatic pause.
The footage of Tredwell in the bush is compelling. It is amazing to see the way the bears save him (not his contention that he is saving the bears). It is a man, alone, fighting the demons in his mind, out loud. When the movie concentrates on Tredwell it is wonderful.
When it is filling in the back story, half the time it simply feels like filler.

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