"Brigsby Bear" is one of the more original movies I've ever seen....and for that reason alone, it's well worth watching. However, I also should point out that some of the plot and characters don't make a lot of sense...as if the story could have used a slight re-write before they began filming.

The story begins in a nice home with two parents and their grown son, James (Kyle Mooney). However, you also realize that they are locked into some sort of shelter-like home and soon the FBI barge in and arrest the parents. You then learn that they are NOT James' parents but folks who kidnapped him as a baby. To prevent him leaving, they created a strange bunker world and convinced him that the outside world was filled with poisonout gas! They also made their own music and TV show just for James...and James loves the over 700 episodes of "Brigsby Bear" they made him!

So why do I have mixed feelings about this movie? Well, because it made little sense AFTER the man was rescued and brought to his biological family. They only went to family counseling sometime AFTER this reunion...and, not surprisingly, the reunion did not go well. You would think there would have been TONS of counseling and education done with James and his new family to make the transition work well....but he was just tossed in and folks acted surprised when things didn't go well. Additionally, a few of the characters made little sense...such as the police detective (Greg Kinnear) or the biological father.

Now my complaints, though valid, do NOT negate all the good in the film. Mooney is wonderful as James, the film kept me guessing and after a rough transition, things DO get better...so just hold on and enjoy the ride. Well worth seeing, though the film could have been brilliant. As is, it's just very good but flawed.

James Pope never left home, content to live with his parents. His only concern in the world is his obsession with a children's television program titled Brigsby Bear Adventures, writing detailed recaps of the show and debating each episode online with other fans. But what if the world he lives in isn't reality?

James (Kyle Mooney, SNL) has spent his life underground with his parents, Ted and April Mitchum (Mark Hamill and Jane Adams). Forced to stay underground because the rest of the world has been contaminated by radiation, James fills his days with Brigsby Bear, always wearing a shirt from the show, collecting merchandise and watching every episode, which he has on VHS tape. This may hit a little close to home.

As he dons a gas mask and sneaks out to the roof to watch the desert, James sees police cars approaching his home. He, Ted and April are taken away. He meets Detective Vogel (Greg Kinnear, Little Miss Sunshine),who tells him that what he has come to accept as reality is untrue. He has a real set of parents and a sister. And even more shocking, Brigsby Bear wasn't a real show, but was created by Ted just for him. No one else knows anything about his greatest obsession - even the people he talked to on the internet were his abductors.

James needs to learn how to relate to his real parents, Greg and Louise Pope (Matt Walsh, a founding member of the Upright Citizens Brigade and Michaela Watkins, an SNL cast member from 2008-2009 and The House) and their daughter Aubrey (Ryan Simpkins, Revolutionary Road and The House).

You instantly realize that everyone has been living in a different version of reality. For James' real parents, they had spent 25 years looking for him and can't break the behavior patterns that allowed them to mentally survive. And his sister has grown to resent the brother she has never met. But this isn't a cookie cutter movie - she has the capacity to love James and even takes him to a party.

You might expect the drinking and drugs in this scene to lead to tragedy, but instead they allow James to open up and discuss Brigsby with a large crowd, including Spencer, who is an aspiring filmmaker. They agree to finish the story of Brisgby Bear.

Detective Vogel gives James the show's props and show of his videotapes, which he uploads to YouTube, creating a new audience for the show that only he has seen and building anticipation for his movie. However, James' parents and therapist (Claire Danes) don't approve, thinking that this is holding him back from accepting reality.

While filming in the woods, James creates a giant explosion, shocking everyone and drawing the police. He loses all of the costumes and props as the result.

One night, determined to tell his story, he leaves in his parent's car and goes to his old home, which now seems just as alien as the world he has re-entered. This reminded me of Room, but not in a bad way. On his way back to his new home, James decides to find Whitney (Kate Lyn Sheil, You're Next),a waitress who played the Smiles sisters on Brigsby. She's the only woman that he's ever loved - sure, it's been through a fake TV show created by his abductive father - but it's love nonetheless. She tells him how badly she felt once she learned what the truth was, as she had been led to believe that the show was created for Canadian public access. As the police arrive to arrest him, he confesses his love for her and asks her to be in his movie.

James is institutionalized, where he meets Eric (Andy Samberg),who keeps his spirits up. One night, he decides to run away, but once he gets home to grab clothes, he learns that his family, Spencer and Detective Vogel have been working on finishing his movie. The scene where Aubrey stands up for her brother and shows them how the power of creating a movie has helped him be normal and make friends felt powerful and honest.

There's only one thing missing, but only James would know: Brigsby's voice just isn't right. He goes to jail to visit Ted, who offers to explain why he abducted him. But James has already made peace with his "old dad" and just wants his help to finish the film.

The film is completed, with Detective Vogel getting to live his dream of being an actor and Whitney getting to escape the diner to act again.

On the night of the movie's premiere, James is nervous to the point of nausea, worried that people won't enjoy the culture that had once belonged only to him. Yet when he walks into the theater, he only sees pure joy. His mother and father are crying in happiness, his sister welcomes him with an embrace and when he looks to the stage, he sees Brigsby, who waves goodbye and disappears.

The end of this film reduced me to tears. Seriously, I found this whole movie to be near perfect.

Brigsby Bear was co-written by Mooney and Kevin Costello, and directed by Dave McCary - three friends who went to high school together and later formed the sketch group Good Neighbor with Beck Bennett and Nick Rutherford (who also appear in the film). So much of the film was based on their years of making videos together, Mooney being a nostalgic introvert and the worries that no one will love what you spent so long creating.

They based the videos within the film on the aesthetic of 80's kid's shows, like Prayer Bear. Mooney is a big collector of strange videos, like the stuff that shows up at the amazing Found Footage Festival.

This was one of my favorite films this year and would be a perfect way to close out your 2017!

BRIGSBY BEAR (2017) *** 1/2 Kyle Mooney, Mark Hamill, Jane Adams, Greg Kinnear, Matt Walsh, Michaela Watkins, Ryan Simpkins, Alexa Demie, Claire Danes, Beck Bennett, Andy Samberg. Dramedy wunderkind that's nearly impossible to describe let alone believe it works so well: a young man (Mooney well-serving the source material) who was abducted as a child by a caring, creative couple (Hamill & Adams) is found and re-united with his anxious real family but finds acclimating back into the real world an incredible chore due to the fact his entire 'world' revolves around a fictional kids' TV series about the titular character and realizes he can be someone by adapting the show into a movie with the help of his new friends and reluctant family members. Funny, bittersweet and truly original with whimsy and heart largely thanks to director Dave McCary and the wonderfully conceived screenplay co-written by Mooney and Kevin Costello. Kudos to production designer Brandon Tonner-Connolly for getting the right balance of '80s cheese just right balancing nostalgia in all its fuzzy glory. A real indie gem.