If I still wanted to play with my Star Wars toys now that I’m an adult, I might turn to Brigsby Bear for affirmation. The film centers on James (co-writer Kyle Mooney), a grown man still obsessed with the lo-fi kids program he grew up with (think Teletubbies combined with Disney’s Country Bears). When the show gets cancelled for elaborate reasons I won’t reveal, James has trouble adjusting to a world in which it doesn’t exist. At first the movie seems like it might be an affectionate tweaking of the nerd generation, of which I’m a part (Mark Hamill has a small but crucial supporting role). But things turn mushy fairly quickly, until any concerns we might have about the fact that our popular culture is dominated by kids’ stuff (Star Wars, Marvel, Lego) are blithely disregarded as repressive and elitist. I like a lot of that kids’ stuff, so part of me wishes Brigsby Bear was more convincing in the way it argues for an eternal childhood. Mooney never quite nails the crucial lead role, however—James varies in sophistication, awareness, and emotional maturity depending on the needs of each scene—while the narrative limps through a climax full of unnecessary conflict. Still, it’s fun to see Hamill briefly playing around with these ideas, and director Dave McCary brings a zippy, Be Kind Rewind aesthetic to the Brigsby Bear movie that James eventually tries to produce. In fact, I wouldn’t mind watching that finished film—even as an adult.
