l_rawjalaurence In 1989 Jack Rebney made a series of videos promoting Winnebago products. The shoot was not a happy one, taking place in Iowa during midsummer, and Rebney became highly frustrated with his efforts. Unbeknownst to him the camera crew edited many of the outtakes together and released them on VHS; they showed Rebney cursing everything and everyone in the basest terms.Due in no small part to the ease of copying tapes, the video became something of a cult with Rebney cast as "The Angriest Man in the World." With the advent of the internet its popularity soared - so much so, in fact, that filmmaker Ben Steinbauer was persuaded to search for Rebney's whereabouts and find out what he had been doing since the videos were made.WINNEBAGO MAN follows a familiar thematic path with Steinbauer at first finding difficulties in his quest, then discovering Rebney; trying to establish a relationship with Rebney; and at the end persuading the reluctant ex-salesperson to appear at a fan convention in San Francisco dedicated to the original video. Steinbauer manufactures a happy ending in which the fans congratulate Rebney, and the old man returns home apparently touched by their affection for him.But that is not how the documentary pans out. Throughout the action there remains the distasteful suspicion that Rebney's sensibilities are being willfully exploited by the filmmaker. Now in his mid-seventies with a glaucoma rendering him almost blind, Rebney uses aggression to compensate for his shortcomings, and by doing so conforms precisely to that sobriquet that has stuck to him ever since 1989. At one point he tries to act calm, but eventually admits that this was nothing more than a form of pretense.In truth it's not Rebney who pretends, but Steinbauer himself. Saddled with the responsibility of making an "hilarious" film for the fans, he willfully allows Rebney to give vent to his anger. The fact that he is now a frail old person seems irrelevant. When the two of them end up in San Francisco, the sight is grotesque: I was reminded of the most notorious sequences in Tod Browning's FREAKS (1932) in which the disadvantaged were presented for our entertainment.The film reveals one of the seamier aspects of fan studies: whereas people of all classes, ages and ethnicities might be devoted to a particular text, their addiction can destroy as well as enhance. This is precisely what happens to Rebney. For all the director's attempts to manufacture a happy ending, the old man's melancholy expression (revealed in close-up at the end), denotes his true state of mind.

oscar-35 *Spoiler/plot- Winnebago Man, 2009. Some raw video footage of a TV commercial pitch-man for motor homes gets bootlegged released on the Internet and makes him a celebrity. A documentary catches up with the pitch-man in retirement and let's him enjoy his new audience.*Special Stars- Jack Rebney, Ben Steinbauer.*Theme- Internet videos can cause some fame.*Trivia/location/goofs- Documentary, Northern California near Reddening.*Emotion- An interesting documentary subject that could only be due to the rise of the Internet and You Tube. This film speaks well of the power of the download.

robocopssadside-1 *mild spoilers* Ben Steinbauer takes us on journey into the mountains of California in search of an internet cult icon.In 1988, Jack Rebney was filming a marketing video for Winnebago. It was a two-week shoot in the heat of summer, and the guy just simply goes bananas (if you have never seen it, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSWUWPx2VeQ). While the edited video gets sent off to Winnebago to be used as a sales pitch, a 4-minute VHS outtakes reel is being passed around by crew-members; it eventually ends up in the hands of collectors and is copied an uncountable amount of times. Years later, the internet blows up and gives birth to video sites i.e. Youtube, and Jack Rebney is instantly a viral superstar.The quest is for Ben to find out how Mr. Rebney, now twenty years older, feels about being dubbed the Winnebago Man, aka The Angriest Man in the World; or to see if he knows of his popularity at all.Jack Rebney is a person everyone in life has most likely known at one point or another. He is the older man that pulls off being grumpy and charming simultaneously. He is a wizard with profanity, and uses body language that demonstrates his disdain. For many of us, he is the anti-hero we long to be during those times of stress and irritability.Ben Steinbauer has created something hilarious and moving with "Winnebago Man". His efforts in finding someone that is a legend to some are truly sincere. The deeper this documentary goes into Ben's pursuit, the more you learn about a person that is slightly different from what you would expect. There are a few moments where I felt Ben was prying too much with things involving Rebney's life, but I do not think he was trying to be nosy, just overly enthusiastic. This would be perfect to watch back-to-back with "Best Worst Movie". A high recommendation to fans of comedy documentaries.

Tim Rumford I had to say something after seeing this movie. I am a movie-alcoholic and watched this with very low expectations. I am not into viral videos and had never seen or been aware of Jack Rebney. I found myself at first afraid that Ben Steinbauer was going to make mistake and end up doing more damage than good. You feel for Jack when Ben finds him. I found myself worrying that this man would never get to say what he wanted and in a sense would be exploited all over again, ending in certain disaster. That could have easily happened. In one scene when Jack starts ranting about the evils of Dick Cheney, Ben stops him trying to get him to focus. I thought that was the big mistake that would end the film and and chance of us really learning more about Jack. But Ben was right to stop him. I have to give him props It seemed to me the process was healing for this already fascinating highly intelligent man, the sometimes angry Jack. In the end this experience seemed to help resolve what anger he had over the video going viral and the video outtakes themselves. This movie has allot going for it. It's a fascinating character study and much much more. It's funny at times and it just works beyond any expectations.