The helicopter pilot sent to haul away the remains of Timothy Treadwell and his girlfriend after they were eaten alive by a bear suggests that Treadwell was a retard who got what he deserved. Perhaps that’s true. If he wasn’t suicidal, and it doesn’t seem he was, he had to be either stupid or crazy on some level to do what he did for so long. Not to mention his eccentric personality. Imagine Andy Dick camping out at Katmai National Park, talking to and interacting with wild grizzly bears as if they were harmless pets; no gun or anything to protect himself if one decides to attack. He loves those bears, he repeatedly insists, and lucky for us he was thoughtful enough to capture his antics on video.

It’s only fitting that someone made a documentary about him, but Werner Herzog wasn’t the right man for the job. Instead of an objective presentation, he inserts his own opinions, which portray Timothy Treadwell as someone to be admired. The worst part is when Herzog shows himself listening to the final minutes of Treadwell’s life; an audio tape of him and girlfriend Amie Huguenard struggling against the bear who ate them; without letting us hear any of it. Instead he starts to cry and tells the woman playing it that it should be destroyed. What an idiot. People like him shouldn’t be making documentaries. This one would be better if it were a lot shorter and stuck to the facts.

my rating : 3 of 5

2005