Winnebago Man - Jack Rebney

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

Directed by Ben Steinbauer
USA 2009

What began as one of funniest videos of all time is now the acclaimed indie comedy hit of the year! Type The Angriest Man in the World; into any search engine and one name appears Jack Rebney (a.k.a. The Winnebago Man), an 80s RV salesman whose hilarious, profanity-strewn, on-the-job meltdown was captured on video and passed around on VHS tapes, before exploding into an Internet phenomenon seen by millions. When a young filmmaker goes in search of the legendary man who disappeared 20 years ago, he finds Rebney living alone on a mountain top, as sharp-tongued as ever, but more intelligent and lovable than anyone could have imagined. Winnebago Man is a outrageously funny and unexpectedly moving tale of one man's response to unwanted celebrity, and proof that the truth is both stranger and funnier than fiction.

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Theatrical Release: March 14th, 2009 South by Southwest Film Festival

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DVD Review: Kino International - Region 0 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Kino International - Region 0 - NTSC
Runtime	1:25:48
Video	1.78:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 7.0 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Subtitles	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Kino International Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Original Winnebago Sales Video (25:10) • Featurette of the NY Premiere (16:34) • Original Theatrical Trailer (2:20) DVD Release Date: November 2nd, 2010 Keep Case Chapters: 12

Comments:

I guess the big question was "Is the cultural phenomenon of The Winnebago Man worthy of a feature film?" Certainly the answer must be 'yes'. Jack Rebney is a totally compelling character - even in his moments of melancholy transparency. A true character born in the modern world of viral-video dissemination. In a kind of Marshall McLuhan-esque way - the fact that Jack has a message is less important than his unfathomable ascendancy thru YouTube (HERE). Worthy? Sure - why, the hell, not?

The Kino disc is dual-layered, progressive and anamorphic. It was shot in HD and looks fine on DVD. Detail can look impressive in close-ups but the camera is hand-held and we get a lot of verité instability jitters. There is some noise. This video quality is less about being pristine in the documentary and more about representing an authentic, unrehearsed story of one man. The rougher look the better -some segments are in 4:3 mated to 1.78.

There 5.1 audio has no need for separations as we have almost exclusively dialogue and narration. There is some crowd noise but basically things are flat. There are no subtitles on the region free NTSC disc.

Extras are under the heading 'Accoutrama' (don't ask) and include the complete original 'Winnebago Sales Video' running about 25-minutes, plus 15-minutes of a featurette of the NY Premiere of the film and the original theatrical trailer.

Yes, I would think this is worthwhile viewing if only for its uniqueness. The Winnebago phenomena is perpetuating itself and that, actually, is half the story. A kind of self-fulfilling prophecy centering on the initial clips of a troubled man caught on film disturbed to the point of stream-of-consciousness swearing. That's it.. but it's enough.