The Country Bears Release Date: July 26, 2002 Starring: Christopher Walken, Diedrich Bader, Haley Joel Osment, Julianne Buescher Directed by: Peter Hastings, Charles S. Dutton
DVD REVIEW (posted 2/7/03)
Movie: 1/2
Disc:
The Movie: When a studio re-creates The Blues Brothers in a world full of cohabitating bears and people, which target audience are they aiming for, exactly? Disney runs out of answers in this unintentionally creepy, G-rated road trip, based on characters from its theme park attraction. Obsessed cub Beary (voiced by Haley Joel Osment) runs away from his adoptive human family to try to get his heroes' band, essentially a fuzzier-okay, a much fuzzier-version of the Allman Brothers, back together. If the old-time bear-band doesn't make it to the third-act fund-raiser concert, their Country Bear Hall will be destroyed by villainous banker Christopher Walken, the one hammy delight that separates this from an afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese's.
The Disc: One star-studded mock-umentary and a filmed Bears “concert” crank the strangeness knob to 11, insinuating that the titular Bears are playing themselves in this “biographical” movie. In the same sick vein, the bonus audio commentary features director Peter Hastings with bears Ted and Zeb (funnymen Diedrich Bader and Stephen Root, in character), who clumsily shift between serious, behind-the-scenes tech talk and bickering bandmate improvisations.