Hundreds of Beavers is Gleeful, Absurdist Entertainment

SRH

4/5 stars

One of the biggest joys of venturing out to the movie theater is the attempt to find something that you never would have expected to see. Something so uniquely original and so confident in its ability to entertain that audiences are just immediately entranced. It's a rare feat and it is exactly what makes Mike Cheslik's crowd-pleaser Hundreds of Beavers so special. Not since A Town Called Panic! or Takashi Miike's The Happiness of the Katakuris has a film had so much fun just reveling in the absurd rules of its own universe and even though it slightly overstays its welcome, one would be hard pressed to find a more entertaining movie.

In the American Midwest of the 19th century, failed applejack salesman Jean Kayak (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews) tries his hand at fur trapping. But when he becomes smitten with a merchant's daughter (Olivia Graves), he is tasked with obtaining the pelts of hundreds of beavers to earn her father's (Doug Mancheski) approval and win her hand in marriage.

Cheslik is not the least bit concerned with anything relating to realism and instead gives us a dialogue-free adventure in which all animal characters are played by actors in costumes. The result is like Buster Keaton by way of Looney Tunes presented as a 1990s graphical adventure video game. In doing so, all the simple entertainment found in those genres is blasted on-screen for the entire runtime. He isn't trying for any grand statement or big idea, but if the purpose of movies is primarily to have a good time, this may just be one of the best films in years. Hundreds of Beavers is currently playing in select theaters but comes soon to streaming. Look for it!

Directed by Mike Cheslik // Written by Cheslik and Ryland Brickson Cole Tews // Starring Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, Wes Tank, Olivia Graves, Doug Mancheski, Luis Rico, Jessica Knap, Brendan Steere, Jon Truei, and Mike Cheslik // SRH // 108 minutes // Unrated ('PG' equivalent)