The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot

In Empire Strikes Back, Luke is about to enter a cave, he asks Yoda what is in there. The answer, "Only what you bring with you." This is really at the heart of The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then The Bigfoot. The tale follows Calvin Barr, played in youth by Aiden Turner and in age by Sam Elliott, both of whom give outstanding performances. As a young man he is tasked with hunting down and killing Hitler, as an old man he's drawn into hunting down and killing The Bigfoot. But is that really what this film is about? I saw it as an allegory on aging, vulnerability and Alzheimer's but reading other reviews it clearly means different things to different people. From an allegory on America's fight against Fascism and then Communism, through a man rewriting his past, a weak man trying to give the mistakes in his life meaning, to a story about a man who genuinely killed Hitler and then Bigfoot. There are many other reviews that offer different readings on this film. This movie seems to hold up a mirror to the audience and you put your own meaning on it. What isn't up for debate are the fantastic performances of the cast, from Elliott and Turner, through to Larry Miller as Calvin's brother and Caitlin Fitzgerald as Maxine, Calvin's lost love. It's a mesmerising film and you'll debate what it's trying to say for a long time afterwards. It's definitely worth a viewing or two.

This is not the movie you might reasonably have expected from the title - while both killings are part of the movie, they play second fiddle to the story of a man who has sacrified everything for what he believes is in service of the greater good.

Really took me by surprise, Sam Elliot really delivers a superb performance, which is pretty much what the movie hangs on.

Yes, it's a bit bizarre to have a movie where the assassination of Hitler and killing of Bigfoot - by the main character - are mere sidenotes in a slow-burn character study....

But it worked for me, I can see why it wouldn't for others, but it's genuinely a good movie and not the b-movie schlock-fest the title implies.

Calvin Barr (Sam Elliott) is an old man living quietly in retirement. Well, he tries. When he gets robbed by three thugs, he has to beat them up to get back his car. He is a man with a mysterious past. He killed Hitler and he's recruited to hunt down Bigfoot in Canada to prevent the spread of a plague to the world.

Sam Elliott is a cinematic treasure. He is incapable of delivering less than a fascinating performance. As for the fantastical title, the story has some of that element but the filmmaking is not quite up to the outlandish promise. There are some great little scenes but they're not really linked together. I love some of the flashbacks like killing Hitler and proposal in restaurant. This movie needs something and I'm not sure what.

It has taken me a long time to decide how I feel about this flawed but fascinating movie. On the one hand, kudos to everyone involved for committing to a quirky heartfelt, genre-defying labour of love. On the other, there are swathes of one-star reviews on Amazon from people who feel short-changed and I've some sympathy with them. But not much. Perhaps the title wrong-footed them, but some of them seem to have missed the point entirely. Where to start? Spoilers are almost not a problem, because it does exactly what it says on the tin. The man, Calvin Barr (Sam Elliott) kills Hitler and then the Bigfoot. What is more interesting is what falls into the gaps in between. This is a slow-burning movie about regret and loss, as Elliott's character reflects on the killing of a monster and the realisation that while he can kill the man he can never destroy his poisonous ideology. The sacrifice he made to do so, in losing his young love, is something he must now feel was hardly worth it, with the far right on the march in the States and the erosion of common decency, which Sam Elliott so perfectly embodies. The scenes with the younger version of his character, played by Poldark's Aidan Turner (who more than passes for a young Sam Elliott) are among the most striking and poignant in the film. You almost wish director Robert Krzykowski had left it there. The later Bigfoot scenes seem clumsy and pointless, unless you buy into the symbolism. There's plenty of it and it always leaves you wondering. Better take it as the story of an old man wrestling with his demons, rather than a literal scrap with an actual monster. Special effects on this are almost comically bad, but deliberately so, as if the story's interests lie elsewhere and doesn't want us too caught up in the drama. The performances are universally great. Ironic that Elliott was Oscar-nominated for A Star is Born the same year, while this little gem of a performance slipped under the radar. Caitlin FitzGerald does her best with an under-written female lead, while Aidan Turner (scarily sexy in an S.S. uniform) shines as the diffident young man who killed Hitler. Ambition is no bad quality in a director and this is Robert Krzykowski's debut feature. You can't help but feel his reach may have exceeded his grasp on this. By all means watch and be bemused, or moved. But in either case, learn to pronounce Krzykowski, because this is a name to watch.

With a title such as this it is wholly reasonable to wonder what this movie is about. I think some will still be wondering after watching it. It's definitely subjective I guess. What we do know is Sam Elliott plays a man who lost the girl due to a lot of circumstances along his life's path. I think his melancholy is due to that. He is living with regret. He has a keepsake box which must be very symbolic of it. It is dear to him, but he just can't get to the point of opening it. I'm not sure what is actually in it, but I have an idea which I'll just keep to myself as I think the interpretation of it is a big thing in the movie and it may be different things to different viewers.

A story such as this could have been done much more straightforward and I imagine many would rather see Sam in that role. It seems the writer and director is going for an artistic vision that not everyone will appreciate. It's clear in spite of the title and the events direct to it this is not a comedy or satire. It's something along the line of a man can achieve some very unbelievable things and suffer from giving up the personal important ones. He can be brilliant, smart, strong, and kind - even conquering and be lonely as he would rather not find himself one day with regrets that can't be reconciled.. This kind of story could have been simple and linear of course, but then we wouldn't have the title...and the artiness a few will enjoy.

This film, then, is only for those few, who will find the art in the telling of conventional late life regret in the most obtuse way here. Sam Elliott, as wonderful a treasure as he is, can't make it a great ride for everyone. But, he comes close even with the events the title alludes too taking a calculated left turn.