The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot (2019)

 

Streaming Services: Hulu, Hoopla
Movie Name/Year: The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot (2019)
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
Length:  98 minutes
Rating: Unrated
Production/Distribution: Epic Pictures Releasing, Epic Pictures, Title Media, Transformer, Capelight Pictures, Eagle Films, Mares Filmes, RLJ Entertainment, Sparky Pictures
Director: Robert D. Krzykowski
Writer: Robert D. Krzykowski
Actors: Aidan Turner, Sam Elliott, Caitlin FitzGerald, Larry Miller, Mark Steger, Anastasia Tsikhanava, Nikolai Tsankov , Ron Livingston, Rizwan Manji
 
Blurb from IMDb: A legendary American war veteran is recruited to hunt a mythical creature.

Cat’s Point of View:

This movie confused me.
 
From the title, The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot, I expected some sort of campy B-movie romp with Nazi-punching and creature fun. What I experienced was a flight of folklore fantasy that leaned further into drama than anything else. Then, of course, my own WWII veteran ties didn’t help me pull out of the melancholy reflection aspect of the story at all. I’ll get to that in a minute.
 
At first, the film felt a little disjointed for me and too slow. Then, as it progressed, I feel like I understood the ebb and flow of it a bit better. The flashback sequences interrupted the titular character’s life much like they interrupted the story of his ‘current-day’ existence. Time also seemed to drag on for him as he lived a solitary life of regret and self-isolation. The audience gets to experience a bit of this as well. It might be a bit off-putting for anyone hoping for more upbeat pacing.

 
I have to give the production team kudos for casting Sam Elliott (The Good Dinosaur, The Ranch, A Star is Born) as Calvin Barr the elder and Aidan Turner (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Secret Scripture, Poldark) as his younger self. I could listen to Elliott read the phone book and just be blissful – it’s even better when he has some good scenes to chew through. I completely bought their dual portrayal of the same man in different eras.
 
For those that can stick it out to the end of the story, there is a nice book-ended feeling to the film’s resolution. It’s far deeper than I expected it to be. If there was supposed to be more humor in it, I’m afraid it was lost on me. Of course, Elliott plays an excellent straight-man in comedic terms… there just was a glaring absence of anyone as his foil.

 
The overall feel to the movie actually had me in tears. I’ve mentioned before that my grandfathers were both WWII veterans. While I’m not sure what my paternal grandfather’s role was in the Army, my maternal Grandfather was an officer that ran afoul of a landmine in Germany and survived. We didn’t realize until after his passing that he was also in military intelligence. It got me to thinking about whether or not there were things that happened that he might have regretted – considering the nastiness of war in general. All in all, it took me to a maudlin place and colored my experience with the movie.
 
This film was well done and certainly defied expectations. I can’t see myself watching it a second time, but I wouldn’t steer anyone away from experiencing it. Just remember to take it with a grain of salt that it won’t be what one would expect from a title like this.

 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score –75%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 50%
Metascore – 51/100
Metacritic User Score – 5.0/10
IMDB Score – 5.7/10
 
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 3/5
 
Trust the Dice: Parental Advisory Rating – PG-13
 
Movie Trailer: