My Lord and master, Chris George gave me this film to review, and
from his demeanor and the little I front loaded myself with, I was preparing to
make this movie nothing more than something for my eyes to look at while I ate
my gourmet breakfast.
So, I sat down with my meal and turned up Stomping Ground. As I
chewed my eggs in the opening segments, I thought to myself “I thought this
f----ing movie was about Bigfoot”, and kind of asked that question through the
entire film. But, after my viewing of Stomping Ground, I realized quickly that this film is not about Bigfoot.
While
I found the plot to not be that earth-shakingly original, Stomping Ground was
a damn fun movie to watch, and there were some real deep metaphors that ran
through the fabric of the film. The
interplay between protagonist Ben (John Bobek) and antagonist Paul (Jeramy
Blackford) is direct statement on what the illusive 'Boojum' theoretically
does. It marks its territory like many
mammals in the wild do. This is
illustrated by the Jonah Hill-like Justin Giddings playing Jed, who is
continually pointing out the behaviors of 'Boojum' throughout the film.
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All of
the performances in Stomping Ground were relatively good with the shakiest
performance going to Tarah DeSpain in the role of Annie. I laughed out loud several times during this
film and really found myself picking a side.
There was a certain satisfaction I felt in the conclusion of Stomping
Ground, even though the film didn't really seem to end, but rather just
drunkenly fall on it's face and pass out.
While Stomping Ground is a solid film, I really think that even clocking in at a
modest 80 minutes was a little much.
There were just some characters introduced that either needed to be
fleshed out more in the plot or not be there at all to add any value. Stick with the story and what is interesting
about the characters.
Having
Southern blood running through my veins, I really, really enjoyed the
soundtrack to Stomping Ground, written by Ben Riesser and Ted Speaker. The bluegrass themes that weaved in and out
of the film kept me wiggling in my chair the whole time with a smile on my
face. Stomping Ground is about the battle for territory and the things
you can loose in that battle. Yeah, it
is campy, and yeah it is goofy. Yeah,
the actual Bigfoot looks hilarious in all honesty, but Stomping Ground is
just a fun movie with a little deeper message, and that makes it worth an
honest view.
Score
-Scott Lambert