Starring: Seth Green, Matthew Lillard, Dax Shepard and Burt Reynolds
Director: Frank Franklin
Rated: M15+
BILLY (Anthony Starr), Dan (Seth Green), Jerry (Matthew Lillard) and Tom (Dax Shepard) grew up together in Philadelphia.
When 30 year-old Billy is killed, the other three reunite at his funeral.
While reminiscing about their childhood they come across a map detailing the site of a plane crash that claimed the life of notorious bank robber, D.B. Cooper. A sum of $200,000 also vanished with him.
In honour of their fallen friend, Dan, Jerry and Tom head to Oregon to find the site and recover the money.
Along the way they encounter a grizzly bear which eats their food and mobile phone, two marijuana-growing hillbillies, a couple of gorgeous greenies living in the tree tops, a corrupt sheriff and an eccentric old mountain man who has to decide whether to help them down from the mountain or shoot them.
If this description sounds episodic, then you know all there is to know about Without a Paddle.
As a feel-good buddy adventure film, it has its charms, but adds nothing new or interesting to the new genre of lost 30 year-old American men who pine for their spent youth.
This film is more closely related to the frat house film than the adventure genre. As a result, its coarse language, sexual references and toilet humour will offend some viewers.
The end-point values are strong enough – friends are precious, and the real treasure in life is the way it’s lived – but to get there we have to wade through a celebration of lust, drug taking and men behaving badly.
Jonathan Brown’s outdoor cinematography is the film’s best feature. But it is also fun to watch Burt Reynolds as the grumpy old man, and see ER’s Abraham Benrubi step out from behind the reception desk and take on such a contrasting role.
The story, script and acting in this film are not quite up the creek from which it takes it name, but it is not far from it either.
