For many years, I've been entertained by the video I know as "The Angriest Man in the World," featuring a frustrated Winnebago salesman melting down during the hot summertime shoot for a promotional film. Originally distributed via VHS swaps and later disseminated on YouTube, the video comprising obscenity-laden out-takes is filled with quotable dialogue and deliriously funny meltdowns. When I had the pleasure of catching this doc about the video and its star during a sneak last night in LA, I expected little more than a quick and pithy revelation of the man behind the mad. However I was thrilled to discover a thoughtful, provocative, and even quite moving study of what it means to become an unintentional celebrity. The narrative surprises of this film are better discovered than discussed, but suffice it to say that Ben Steinbauer's utterly compelling and utterly hilarious doc should shoot to the top of your must- see list if it hits a festival near you. And while the movie provides unadulterated joy for those who have already joined the cult of Jack Rebney -- the Winnebago Man himself -- I'm confident that anyone interested in serious explorations of pop culture will be fascinated.
Review of Winnebago Man
