Christmas Movie Review: Pottersville

I stumbled across “Pottersville” a couple years back on Netflix. It was in the middle of the summer so I really wasn’t looking for a holiday movie but I watched it anyway. It stars some of my favorite actors. Christina Hendricks. Michael Shannon. Judy Greer. Ron Perlman. So, while sitting in my air conditioned apartment, I watched a Christmas movie in July.

Maynard (Michael Shannon) discovers his wife (Christina Hendricks) is having an affair, and the two of them like dressing up as animals in elaborate head to toe costumes. Maynard does not know how to handle this so he ends up getting drunk and dressing up in an old gorilla costume. He stomps around the town in the middle of the night prompting many of his neighbors to catch glimpses of what they think is Bigfoot.

The town is overrun with with Bigfoot enthusiasts and news vans. Maynard wants to own up that it was him, but before he can a reality TV show personality shows up to track Bigfoot down. Maynard keeps up the charade by dressing up as Bigfoot a few more times so the TV personality can catch a glimpse of him. The man is an idiot though, and his investigative show is a farce.

Maynard finally tells his secret but the town turns on him. The enjoyed the revenue generated from the Bigfoot notoriety. It is the woman who works in Maynard’s store (Judy Greer) that brings it to everyone’s attention that Maynard had never kept track of all the credit accounts the towns people had at his store. He had essentially been giving them free stuff.

It wouldn’t be a Christmas movie if the town didn’t rally around Maynard on Christmas Eve and give him the money they owed him so he could keep his store open. The holiday aspect to this film is secondary to the satire that ensues around the Bigfoot storyline.

This movie is funny, charming, ridiculous, and full of eccentric towns people. This is why it has made into my marathon this year. That, and Bigfoot.

Currently streaming on Netflix.