Rating: 
Summary: Thank you, Mr. D!
Review: Saw the play in Detroit and the movie in Mount Pleasant, MI. I only wish that I could have been "home" when it was filmed. How great is it to see your high school football field on the big screen?The fart jokes and pee-spitting were better live, but who can really pass up bathroom humor in any medium?
Rating:
Summary: Laughed myself silly
Review: This is one of those films that you probably will either love or hate. But, if you give it a chance, and not expect something for the AFI top 100 you'll have a good time.
This is a very entertaining film, and it has some the best fart jokes every put on film. The ending was worth waiting for, and as for bagging a buck from a two-holer------you'll have to see that.
Thank you Jeff for reminding me of some of the things I like best about deer camp.
Rating:
Summary: Great Show
Review: I am from Michigan but have never hunted but if it anything like this movie I would. My whole family enjoyed this show it is the best.
Rating:
Summary: VERY ENTERTAINING
Review: Watching Escabana when it was in the theaters was a greatly entertaining time! Watched near Deer Camp time just made the longing for hunting even more! It's a good descriptor of life in da UP, the way they speak, the way deer camp ot taken seriously. It is a great mix of the seriousness of deer camp with humor of the unexpected. I very much so recomend this movie if you have great humor and love hunting. A wonderful movie! I am actually watching it right now! I can't believe it's finally on DVD!
Rating: 
Summary: Escanaba in da Moonlight
Review: As a lifetime resident of Michigan I had high hopes for this movie. I did enjoy the first half, but then the movie got too deep into mystical imagery. The acting was good, but the story went from earthy backwoods humor to mystical fantasy toward the end.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful movie!
Review: I thought that this movie was great! Sure....not all deer camps are the same as the movie portrays, but how many movie plots are the same as real life?? I think it is a good representation of how the Upper Peninsula is, the nature of life up there and beautiful countryside - God's Country! As a "Yooper" who has been unfortunately "displaced" as a troll for the last year---I look forward to the day that I can get back up there! Great job with the movie, Jeff - thanks for coming up here!
Rating: 
Summary: THE SANCTITY OF CAMP
Review: I'd like to begin by saying it was very strange seeing my hometown on a movie screen, very weird just like some of the scenes in this picture. The Upper Peninsula, or U.P. as locals refer it to, is one of those regions of the country that is ripe for stereotyping. The large number of Scandinavian descendents has created a unique accent not unlike Minnesota. It is a source of amusement to outsiders and I have to admit going home a few times a year, I detect it as well. Then promptly pick up a bit of it and get razzed when I return to Iowa where I now live. However, anyone who equates the unique environment, colloquialisms, and accent with ignorance is making a very big error in judgment. The level of education in the U.P. far surpasses other areas in the US with the same or higher population density. You will find many college graduates not using their skills and accepting low paying jobs for the privilege of living in this very special and beautiful country. I had a small problem with this stereotyping in the movie but the incredible humor over road my objections. And believe me, this movie is incredibly humorous for those who can relate to it.
The sanctity of camp and pasties was depicted with such accuracy, I am sure that Jeff Daniels spent a good deal of time gathering information sitting around camp. Every female growing up in the U.P. looks forward to camp almost as much as the hunters and there are a very rare few who accompany them there. Camp is sacred. It is the place where a few weeks out of the year men can be manly, men. They can live like pigs, eat what they want, drink, fart, play cards and basically do all those things they can't in their own homes every other day of the year. They usually come home to rearranged or new furniture (because all the women know how much money is spent in the hunting venture), new hairstyles and clothing or on a few occasions 'traveling' papers. Hunting season is an institution and that was accurately depicted in this piece.
The slant on Native American legends and beliefs was rather insulting and made into a trivial object when it deserves a great deal more respect. The spiritualism of this culture should not be treated in this manner any more then other forms of religion. The 'weirdness' of how it was presented detracted greatly from the movie. My entire family felt this way. When your teenagers agree with you on a subject, it's a rare occasion and deserves notice.
Overall, our living room was filled with recognition, understanding and great deal of laughter. I would recommend this movie to anyone who can relate to the U.P., hunting or the Red Green Show.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Michigan Movie
Review: I'm so glad that this movie is finally available on DVD. I saw it three times in the theater and enjoyed each time. Being from and living in Michigan, I found the movie to be hilarious. I really appreciate Jeff Daniel's loyalty to his home state. He's done a great job with this film.
Rating:
Summary: Funniest movie of all time!
Review: I was not able to breath due to laughing so hard. My brother almost went to get me mediacl attention.
NO LIE!
Rating:
Summary: Regional Cult Favorite!
Review: Actually I'm a troll from under da bridge, but I do enjoy watching yoopers in a movie the same as everyone else! Seriously, this movie is a spellbinding journey through the mystical and mysterious Day Before Opening Day. Jeff Daniels has created a classic and entracing tale of Rueben Soady and some close relatives (and one freaked-out DNR officer). Sure some of the humor is a litte immature (fart humor is raised to a new level), but the movie often switches to a surreal focus on Daniel's character and his plight of being the oldest Soady to never have bagged a buck. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and would recommend it to anyone who is from the upper midwest region and also to anyone who might enjoy a strange, funny, and touching story of an upper michigan hunter. It would be hard to pigeonhole this thing into any one category, and for that I give Daniel's my bigest thanks, for shunning the Hollywood methodology and creating something very special.
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