In 1989 the Winnebago Company set out to make a series of informational films about their famous RV’s, and hired Jack Rebney a respected broadcast journalist, to write and present them. By the second day of filming the crew realizing how volatile Mr. Rebney was as every time the filming broke down or Rebney called a halt, he exploded with a verbal torrent of wall to wall four letter words, so they just kept the cameras rolling to capture all of this. When the Shoot finally finished they patched all these outtakes together and put them on a VHS tape just for their own enjoyment. But it never stopped there, as everyone who viewed it loved it and made another copy and passed it on, and then fast forward to the present time and Jack Rebney is an mega viral hit seen by over 2 milion people on You Tube where he is now known by all and sundry at ‘The Angriest Man In The World.’
When filmmaker Ben Steinhauer got a copy of the tape in 2006 he was intrigued to know if Jack Rebney, who had disappeared off the face of the earth, was in fact still alive, and more importantly who was this guy, and why did he get so angry. This fascinating quirky movie is about that journey and although he quickly realizes that 80 year old Rebney still uses the ‘f’ word more than liberally in every single sentence, he never really discovers the reason of why Jack is like he is. Nevertheless it does turn into a delightful and touching portrait of an irascible eccentric old man who, under all his bluster, is actually quite likable. And I really liked it, and not just because I seem so calm and sweet in comparison to Mr Rebney!
Posted by queerguru at 23:23
Labels: biography, documentary
