Troy Hurtubise is putting together a bear-proof suit to get close to the grizzlies. He recounts an encounter with a grizzly bear he calls the 'Old Man'. It's a strange obsession and not necessarily a healthy or smart one. It's not that he's a raving lunatic or that he's some kind of idiot. It's that he is fully committed. At times, one does wonder whether this guy is real or not. Some of the testing is hilarious like Three Stooges. His wilderness outfit hints at some kind of theatricality. His fringe jacket and beret looks like some costume. Part of this is absolutely showmanship unless bears started breathing fire. There's no reason to test the suit against an inferno. In the end, this is a character study but I still need that bear attack. I expected a bear attack. A bear needs to attack that suit.

As many have noted, this film is not about a man fighting a grizzly bear, despite what the pitch would seem to promise. It's about a man eccentric enough to build a suit for a rematch against a bear that once pushed him over. In other words, it's about a fricking egotistical moron with too much time and money on his hands and a documentary crew giving us the most boring version. It's Moby Dick for rednecks and this time there is no climax. Troy talks about his knives, his father and rambles almost incoherently about an encounter with a bear. He makes a number of suits and there are some funny Jackass like test runs. Had the documentary explored more of the mans psychosis (like the incredible Grizzly Man) it would be of some interest, instead it pats Troy on the head to elicit cheap laughs. You're better off going elsewhere for more intelligent and well constructed documentaries.

This short documentary (72 min) introduces North Bay, Ontario's Troy Hurtubise, and I can assure you you won't soon forget this guy. After a near-encounter with a giant grizzly in the Canadian Rockies, Hurtubise becomes seized with the idea of building a protective body suit strong enough to let him wrestle 'the Old Man' mano-a-mano and live to tell about it.

Just the sight of this contraption will make you laugh, and there are enough scenes of the 'field-testing' to keep you in stitches as he is knocked over by flying logs, run into by a pick-up truck doing 35 clicks and shot at with a variety of firearms, all without suffering any ill effects.

Hurtubise was apparently annoyed that the film ignores the 'science'. No doubt there are practical uses for this seemingly impenetrable body suit, but discussing the chemical properties of titanium won't make for a good film. Project Grizzly is the story of a man who follows the beat of his own drummer. And it is a very funny film. Early on, the laughter may be directed AT Hurtubise, but by the end of the film the viewer has come to respect the integrity of this man's quest and to feel certain that he will achieve his objectives someday, if not just yet. An entertaining and off-beat film.