Escanaba in da Moonlight

CinematographyRichard BrauerEdited byRobert TomlinsonMusic byAlto Reed91 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish

Escanaba in da Moonlight is a 2001 American comedy film written, directed, and starring Jeff Daniels. It is a comedy about hunting and hunting traditions and is set (and filmed) in the Escanaba, Michigan area. The film uses Upper Peninsula language and slang. The movie is the film adaptation of the play of the same name, which premiered at Daniels' Purple Rose Theatre in Chelsea, Michigan.^[1]

Reuben Soady (Daniels) goes to the hunting camp cottage, otherwise known as deer camp, with his father Albert (played by Harve Presnell), brother Remnar (Joey Albright) and Jimmy "The Jimmer" Negamanee from Menominee (Wayne David Parker). If Reuben, now 43, doesn't manage to shoot a buck by the end of the season, he will become the oldest Soady in recorded history not to have achieved this task, a taboo that leads people in the community to believe he is jinxed.

Reuben breaks with tradition, taking advice from his Native American wife Wolf Moon Dance (Kimberly Norris Guerrero), who offers him spiritual remedies involving a drink made with moose testicles and scenting himself with porcupine urine to protect him from evil spirits and attract his prey to him. After various unexplainable phenomena, they meet a DNR officer, Tom T. Treado (Randall Godwin), who claims to have literally seen God on the ridge.

At various times, Reuben, Jimmer, and ranger Tom all get possessed by spirits. Eventually, Reuben runs out into the cold wearing only his long underwear and a hat, and finds himself face-to-face with the ghost of his dead great-grandfather Alphonse Soady, who guides him to shooting a buck sent for him by the spirits. Reuben returns triumphantly.

• Jeff Daniels as Reuben Soady
• Harve Presnell as Albert Soady
• Kimberly Norris Guerrero as Wolf Moon Dance Soady
• Joey Albright as Remnar Soady/Porcelain Bus Dancer
• Randall Godwin as Ranger Tom T. Treado
• Wayne David Parker as Jimmer Negamanee
• James Porterfield as Alphonse Soady
• Guy Sanville as Alvin Soady

• Yooper dialect

• Escanaba in da Moonlight at IMDb
• Escanaba in da Moonlight at Rotten Tomatoes
• Escanaba in da Moonlight at Box Office Mojo