The Sasquatch Gang (aka The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang) is opening today. 10 theaters across the country, 5 of them in Utah. It is a comedy written and directed by Tim Skousen, a BYU grad, who was the First Assistant Director of Napoleon Dynamite and Baptists at our Barbecue. Jeremy Coon (also from BYU) produced it, he was one of the producers of Napoleon Dynamite. It is the third in what I see as a generation of films by LDS filmmakers that try to reduplicate Napoleon Dynamite's success. That is, no LDS references, silly sophmoric humor, very dumb protagonists. All three were made a few years ago and sat in the can for quite a while before they saw the light of day. The first, Moving McAllister, had only a tenuous ND connection (Jon Heder co-starred). The creators came from the Utah Pride and Prejudice. It was reeleased in the theaters this fall, and bombed with critics and viewers. The second, Think Tank, was written and directed by Brian Petersen, who was Second Assistant Director on ND. It was released on DVD a couple of months ago. I saw it and thought it was pretty funny. I'll write a review soon.
Sasquatch received bad reviews from the Utah papers, although it won an award at Slamdance a couple of years ago, and it has a good review in Variety.

Deseret Morning News
'Sasquatch' painfully unfunny
By Jeff Vice
Published: November 30, 2007
THE SASQUATCH GANG — * 1/2 — Jeremy Sumpter, Justin Long, Hubbel Palmer; rated PG-13 (vulgarity, violence, slurs)
"The Sasquatch Gang" comes from several of the people responsible for "Napoleon Dynamite," which explains some similarities.

This is yet another low-key comedy, albeit with decidedly cruder sensibilities than "Napoleon," such as a noxious doo-doo joke that is continually referenced throughout the entire movie.

Actually, the rather limited outcast-comedy premise is already tapped out. So this painfully unfunny film seems considerably longer than its scant 90-minute running time.

The title "The Sasquatch Gang" refers to a group of fantasy nerds led by Gavin Gore (Jeremy Sumpter). He and his pals Maynard (Rob Pinkston) and Hobie (Hubbel Palmer) regularly "duel" in his mom's front yard.

Gavin is also obsessed with Bigfoot and is excited when, at a local park, they find what appears to be a series of Sasquatch tracks, as well as some of the creature's ... ahem ... droppings.

However, it turns out that both are actually part of a hoax perpetuated by a pair of metal-heads, Zerk (Justin Long) and Shirts (Joey Kern), who hope to cash in on any resulting publicity.

In addition to its lowbrow tendencies, screenwriter/director Tim Skousen's film is a little mean-spirited and unpleasant. And some dumb bits of business with Long's and Kern's characters are excruciating.

There's virtually nothing for talented people like Sumpter ("Peter Pan") and Pinkston (TV's "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide") to do except clown around.

You have to wonder how they got such "name" actors as Long, Stephen Tobolowsky (TV's "Heroes") and Carl Weathers to take part (Weathers plays a dung-obsessed Bigfoot expert).

Oh, and "Napoleon Dynamite" star Jon Heder shows up in a brief cameo — and even he seems to be in a hurry to get it over with.

"The Sasquatch Gang" is rated PG-13 for crude humor and references (mostly scatological), violence (bullying, paintball shenanigans, vehicular mayhem and violence against women), and slurs based on sexual preference. Running time: 88 minutes.

The Salt Lake Tribune
The Sasquatch Gang
Running Time: 1:24
Released: 11/30/2007
1 1/2 stars

If you think it's easy to balance silliness and smarts the way Napoleon Dynamite did, see what happens when it's done badly. Writer-director Tim Skousen (a Brigham Young University grad who worked as an assistant director on Napoleon) tries to repeat the Dynamite formula in this tale of a nervous nerd. Gavin (Jeremy Sumpter, who played Peter Pan in the 2003 movie version) and his pals think they find evidence of Bigfoot - though we know it's really a get-rich-quick scheme by a mullet-headed slacker (Justin Long, from Live Free or Die Hard and those I'm a Mac ads). Alas, the innocence of Gavin's tentative romance with Sophie (Addie Land) is too tender for a movie that relies this heavily on poop jokes and supposedly wacky cameos by the likes of Carl Weathers and Napoleon pals Jon Gries and Jon Heder. This movie (which debuted at the 2006 Slamdance Film Festival) has some nice moments, but the thing never comes together.
-- Sean P. Means

Variety
The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang
A Jeremy Coon and Trigger Street production.
Directed, written by Tim Skousen.
With: Jeremy Sumpter, Justin Long, Addie Land, Hubbel Palmer, Joey Kern, Rob Pinkston, Michael Mitchell, Jon Gries, Carl Weathers, Stephen Tobolowsky.
By ROBERT KOEHLER
The post-"Napoleon Dynamite" era is in full swing with Tim Skousen's larky, good-natured "The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang." The influence is obvious and the pedigree is direct, with Skousen having served as assistant director, and producer/co-editor Jeremy Coon holding the same posts on the Fox Searchlight youth-pic phenom. "Napoleon" fans will never admit to it, but "Sasquatch" is funnier, hinging on a bogus Bigfoot sighting and some hilariously stupid dudes. Slamdance competish pic reps surer commercial prospects than the vast majority of Sundance offerings, and could play nicely offshore.
The story structure isn't exactly original, as it dabbles in the Tarantino game that introduces a set of characters, then winds back in time to introduce the next set, until it reaches the present. Gavin (Jeremy Sumpter), Hobie (Hubbel Palmer) and Maynard (Rob Pinkston) are fans of medieval fantasy and sword fights. Their nifty Three Stooges-like swordplay games, however, piss off 20-ish slacker neighbor Zerk (Justin Long), and he quickly puts an end to the shenanigans.

Later, Gavin and the guys, along with pal Sophie (Addie Land), take a walk in the woods and stumble on supposed Bigfoot leavings -- tracks and a sizable turd -- which trigger the interest of "expert" Dr. Artemis Snodgrass (Carl Weathers).

But, Zerk and his profoundly stoned buddy Shirts (Joey Kern) actually are responsible for the bogus signs, which they proceed to sell on the web.

Skousen's goofy package (which includes business with bully Shane, played with a smirk by Michael Mitchell) leaves the impression of an America filled with Beavises and Butt-Heads -- who some of the thesps mimic vocally. Inevitably, this will make for Comedy Hell for some auds and pure bliss for others. But Skousen and his colorfully assembled cast know precisely what they're doing and who they're playing to.

Long and Kern come close to stealing the pic, but Palmer, Land and Sumpter hold their own with some scenes that could become classics with certain vidstore cognoscenti.

Munn Powell's widescreen lensing and music supervisor Tracy Lynch-Sanchez's metal rock selections add class and texture.