Without A Paddle
Encyclopedia
Without a Paddle is a 2004 comedy film
about three reunited childhood friends going on a trip up a remote river in order to search for the body of a long lost thief and his loot. The film stars Matthew Lillard
, Seth Green
and Dax Shepard
.
A direct-to-video
spinoff, Without a Paddle: Nature's Calling
, was released in January 2009.
, three friends, Jerry (Matthew Lillard
), Dan (Seth Green
) and Tom (Dax Shepard
) find out that their childhood friend, Billy (Antony Starr
), died in a para-sailing accident in Costa Rica
. After the funeral and burial, they take a trip down memory lane and enter their tree house
, where the four hung out when they were children. They also remember their past with their posters and collectibles. Jerry discovers a treasure chest under Billy's bed. Inside, they find a map leading to D. B. Cooper
's lost treasure that Billy has apparently been working on his whole life. Dan takes a break from his job as a doctor and is forced to join Jerry and Tom on a camping
trip to find the treasure.
They take a canoe
down the river and find Grandpa's Nose (a rock formation), and they stay on the riverside for the night. Standing around the camp fire, they discover they forgot to bring food, so Tom goes out to catch some fish using his shining
skills. Then a grizzly bear
shows up and chases the group away. Dan trips and is caught up with by the bear, who thinks Dan is its cub. It brings Dan back to its 'nest' and forces him to eat a mutilated dead squirrel. Dan manages to escape and the trio ends up sleeping in a tree. In the morning, they find all their gear ripped up and completely destroyed by the bear - even Dan's cellphone, which the animal swallowed. The bear, they find to their dismay, had also ripped a hole in the map.
The trio takes off in the river, but, unable to read the map, they go the wrong way. A fork in the river leads them into rapid
s where they are nearly killed. The map is lost, and they end up falling off a waterfall
, but landing safely in a belly of water. Unfortunately, their canoe has been smashed to pieces. They take off into the woods with a compass
and find themselves at a pot farm
, in which two violent farmers, Dennis (Abraham Benrubi
) and Elwood (Ethan Suplee
), mistake them for thieves and start shooting at them. The friends escape into the farm, but security flares
go off and hit the growth, causing a bunch of smoke to wallow around and get the trio effectively stoned. While the farmers, wearing bandannas over their faces, are on their tail, the guys fall into a pond and barely escape, using reeds to breathe. The farmers take off, and the guys then run into the woods. In the morning, the farmers find their crop burned and they set off to kill Jerry, Dan and Tom.
The trio meets two hippie
girls far into the forest; the girls live in their huge tree they call "Earthchild". The guys look at the girls from below commenting that they can see their "downstairs". The girls say their names are Flower and Butterfly, they treat the men with food and massages. Jerry uses the girl's radio to contact help. Using their own radio, along with the vocal guise of a forest ranger, the farmers find them and attempt to cut down the tree, both distressing and enraging the hippie girls. They drop paper bags full of feces
at the farmers to distract them while the guys escape. Half naked, the guys are lost into the woods, while it is pouring rain. The only way they have to survive is to hold on to each other for warmth. Suddenly, they are caught by a man living up in the mountains, who takes the them up to his hut and provides them with clothes. The man is named Del Knox (Burt Reynolds
), once D. B.'s partner before his death.
The next morning, the farmers find them and assault the house. The guys escape while Del Knox shoots at the two bad guys with his revolver. The guys stumble upon the site in which D. B. crashed landed, discovering his corpse along with the suitcase holding the money. It turns out that D. B. burned his share of the money, just for warmth and a few more minutes of life. They then toss their valuable possessions on his body, including Dan's C-3PO
action figure
, Jerry's Brian Bosworth
card, and Tom's first rubber. The only way out of the cave is for Dan to crawl through a small tunnel. The farmers find Jerry and Tom below after following the sound of them singing "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me," and Dan comes from the ground and hits them with a log. The farmers fall down and they engage in a brawl with Tom and Jerry. Eventually, a sheriff (who actually helped Dan, Tom and Jerry in the beginning) arrives. However, it is discovered that he was working with the pot farmers all along. The three are cornered when Jerry, who took one of the farmer's grenades, flips off the pin but accidentally drops it. Moments before it blows, he throws it towards the bad guys; it explodes, causing a tree to fall on the farmers and sheriff. The three bad guys are arrested afterwards.
In the end, Jerry, Dan and Tom are given half of the remaining money from D. B. Cooper's partner. Jerry proposes
to his girlfriend, Dan starts a relationship with Butterfly, and Tom is a camp counselor for a children's summer camp, who ends up telling his troop all about the camping trip. When he asks if the kids have any questions one boy puts his hand up and asks, "What's a downstairs?"
, 15% of critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 4/10.
The film was a commercial success, grossing $58,169,327 in North American and $11,461,791 internationally, making its worldwide gross $69,631,118.
The poor reception of the film is alluded to in the Family Guy
episode "Something, Something, Something, Dark Side
" – a spoof of George Lucas
' The Empire Strikes Back. At the end of the episode, Peter mocks Chris (played by Seth Green
) about the movie. Green's character then curses at Peter and runs out of the room.
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
about three reunited childhood friends going on a trip up a remote river in order to search for the body of a long lost thief and his loot. The film stars Matthew Lillard
Matthew Lillard
Matthew Lyn Lillard is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his roles as Stu Macher in Scream, Stevo in SLC Punk , and Shaggy Rogers in the Scooby-Doo film series and the Animated reboot series.-Early life:Lillard was born in Lansing, Michigan, and grew up in Tustin, California...
, Seth Green
Seth Green
Seth Benjamin Green is an American actor, comedian, voice actor, and television producer. He is well known for his role as Daniel "Oz" Osbourne in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as Dr. Evil's son Scott in the Austin Powers series of comedy films, Mitch Miller in That '70s Show, and the voice of Chris...
and Dax Shepard
Dax Shepard
Dax Randall Shepard is an American actor.- Early life :Shepard was born in Milford, Michigan and attended Muir Junior High and Walled Lake Central High School, before enrolling in The Groundlings school. He later received a degree in anthropology at UCLA...
.
A direct-to-video
Direct-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
spinoff, Without a Paddle: Nature's Calling
Without a Paddle: Nature's Calling
Without a Paddle: Nature's Calling is a 2009 direct-to-video spin-off from the 2004 film Without a Paddle.It was released on DVD in the US on January 13, 2009 and in the UK on March 23, 2009.-Plot:...
, was released in January 2009.
Plot
Ten years after graduating from high schoolHigh school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
, three friends, Jerry (Matthew Lillard
Matthew Lillard
Matthew Lyn Lillard is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his roles as Stu Macher in Scream, Stevo in SLC Punk , and Shaggy Rogers in the Scooby-Doo film series and the Animated reboot series.-Early life:Lillard was born in Lansing, Michigan, and grew up in Tustin, California...
), Dan (Seth Green
Seth Green
Seth Benjamin Green is an American actor, comedian, voice actor, and television producer. He is well known for his role as Daniel "Oz" Osbourne in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as Dr. Evil's son Scott in the Austin Powers series of comedy films, Mitch Miller in That '70s Show, and the voice of Chris...
) and Tom (Dax Shepard
Dax Shepard
Dax Randall Shepard is an American actor.- Early life :Shepard was born in Milford, Michigan and attended Muir Junior High and Walled Lake Central High School, before enrolling in The Groundlings school. He later received a degree in anthropology at UCLA...
) find out that their childhood friend, Billy (Antony Starr
Antony Starr
Antony Starr is a New Zealand television actor best known for his dual role as twins Jethro and Van West in New Zealand's hit comedy/drama Outrageous Fortune.-Career:...
), died in a para-sailing accident in Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
. After the funeral and burial, they take a trip down memory lane and enter their tree house
Tree house
Tree houses, treehouses, or tree forts, are platforms or buildings constructed around, next to or among the trunk or branches of one or more mature trees while above ground level...
, where the four hung out when they were children. They also remember their past with their posters and collectibles. Jerry discovers a treasure chest under Billy's bed. Inside, they find a map leading to D. B. Cooper
D. B. Cooper
D. B. Cooper is the name popularly used to refer to an unidentified man who hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft in the airspace between Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington on November 24, 1971. He extorted $200,000 in ransom and parachuted to an uncertain fate...
's lost treasure that Billy has apparently been working on his whole life. Dan takes a break from his job as a doctor and is forced to join Jerry and Tom on a camping
Camping
Camping is an outdoor recreational activity. The participants leave urban areas, their home region, or civilization and enjoy nature while spending one or several nights outdoors, usually at a campsite. Camping may involve the use of a tent, caravan, motorhome, cabin, a primitive structure, or no...
trip to find the treasure.
They take a canoe
Canoe
A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...
down the river and find Grandpa's Nose (a rock formation), and they stay on the riverside for the night. Standing around the camp fire, they discover they forgot to bring food, so Tom goes out to catch some fish using his shining
Spotlighting
Spotlighting or Lamping is a method of hunting nocturnal animals using off-road vehicles and high-powered lights, spotlights, lamps or flashlights, that makes special use of the eyeshine revealed by many animal species. A further important aspect is that many animals Spotlighting or Lamping (also...
skills. Then a grizzly bear
Grizzly Bear
The grizzly bear , also known as the silvertip bear, the grizzly, or the North American brown bear, is a subspecies of brown bear that generally lives in the uplands of western North America...
shows up and chases the group away. Dan trips and is caught up with by the bear, who thinks Dan is its cub. It brings Dan back to its 'nest' and forces him to eat a mutilated dead squirrel. Dan manages to escape and the trio ends up sleeping in a tree. In the morning, they find all their gear ripped up and completely destroyed by the bear - even Dan's cellphone, which the animal swallowed. The bear, they find to their dismay, had also ripped a hole in the map.
The trio takes off in the river, but, unable to read the map, they go the wrong way. A fork in the river leads them into rapid
Rapid
A rapid is a section of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. A rapid is a hydrological feature between a run and a cascade. A rapid is characterised by the river becoming shallower and having some rocks exposed above the...
s where they are nearly killed. The map is lost, and they end up falling off a waterfall
Waterfall
A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...
, but landing safely in a belly of water. Unfortunately, their canoe has been smashed to pieces. They take off into the woods with a compass
Compass
A compass is a navigational instrument that shows directions in a frame of reference that is stationary relative to the surface of the earth. The frame of reference defines the four cardinal directions – north, south, east, and west. Intermediate directions are also defined...
and find themselves at a pot farm
Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
, in which two violent farmers, Dennis (Abraham Benrubi
Abraham Benrubi
Abraham Rubin Hercules Benrubi is an American character actor known for his appearances as Jerry Markovic on the long-running U.S...
) and Elwood (Ethan Suplee
Ethan Suplee
Ethan Suplee is an American film and television actor best known for his roles as Seth Ryan in American History X, Louie Lastik in Remember the Titans, Frankie in Boy Meets World, Randy Hickey in My Name Is Earl, Thumper in The Butterfly Effect, Dewey in Unstoppable, and his roles in Kevin Smith...
), mistake them for thieves and start shooting at them. The friends escape into the farm, but security flares
Flare (pyrotechnic)
A flare, also sometimes called a fusee, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a brilliant light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for signalling, illumination, or defensive countermeasures in civilian and military applications...
go off and hit the growth, causing a bunch of smoke to wallow around and get the trio effectively stoned. While the farmers, wearing bandannas over their faces, are on their tail, the guys fall into a pond and barely escape, using reeds to breathe. The farmers take off, and the guys then run into the woods. In the morning, the farmers find their crop burned and they set off to kill Jerry, Dan and Tom.
The trio meets two hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
girls far into the forest; the girls live in their huge tree they call "Earthchild". The guys look at the girls from below commenting that they can see their "downstairs". The girls say their names are Flower and Butterfly, they treat the men with food and massages. Jerry uses the girl's radio to contact help. Using their own radio, along with the vocal guise of a forest ranger, the farmers find them and attempt to cut down the tree, both distressing and enraging the hippie girls. They drop paper bags full of feces
Feces
Feces, faeces, or fæces is a waste product from an animal's digestive tract expelled through the anus or cloaca during defecation.-Etymology:...
at the farmers to distract them while the guys escape. Half naked, the guys are lost into the woods, while it is pouring rain. The only way they have to survive is to hold on to each other for warmth. Suddenly, they are caught by a man living up in the mountains, who takes the them up to his hut and provides them with clothes. The man is named Del Knox (Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
), once D. B.'s partner before his death.
The next morning, the farmers find them and assault the house. The guys escape while Del Knox shoots at the two bad guys with his revolver. The guys stumble upon the site in which D. B. crashed landed, discovering his corpse along with the suitcase holding the money. It turns out that D. B. burned his share of the money, just for warmth and a few more minutes of life. They then toss their valuable possessions on his body, including Dan's C-3PO
C-3PO
C-3PO is a robot character from the Star Wars universe who appears in both the original Star Wars films and the prequel trilogy. He is also a major character in the television show Droids, and appears frequently in the series' "Expanded Universe" of novels, comic books, and video games...
action figure
Action figure
An action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, video game, or television program. These action figures are usually marketed towards boys and male collectors...
, Jerry's Brian Bosworth
Brian Bosworth
Brian Keith "The Boz" Bosworth, is a former American football linebacker. He played college football for the University of Oklahoma...
card, and Tom's first rubber. The only way out of the cave is for Dan to crawl through a small tunnel. The farmers find Jerry and Tom below after following the sound of them singing "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me," and Dan comes from the ground and hits them with a log. The farmers fall down and they engage in a brawl with Tom and Jerry. Eventually, a sheriff (who actually helped Dan, Tom and Jerry in the beginning) arrives. However, it is discovered that he was working with the pot farmers all along. The three are cornered when Jerry, who took one of the farmer's grenades, flips off the pin but accidentally drops it. Moments before it blows, he throws it towards the bad guys; it explodes, causing a tree to fall on the farmers and sheriff. The three bad guys are arrested afterwards.
In the end, Jerry, Dan and Tom are given half of the remaining money from D. B. Cooper's partner. Jerry proposes
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
to his girlfriend, Dan starts a relationship with Butterfly, and Tom is a camp counselor for a children's summer camp, who ends up telling his troop all about the camping trip. When he asks if the kids have any questions one boy puts his hand up and asks, "What's a downstairs?"
Cast
- Seth GreenSeth GreenSeth Benjamin Green is an American actor, comedian, voice actor, and television producer. He is well known for his role as Daniel "Oz" Osbourne in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as Dr. Evil's son Scott in the Austin Powers series of comedy films, Mitch Miller in That '70s Show, and the voice of Chris...
as Dan Mott - Matthew LillardMatthew LillardMatthew Lyn Lillard is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his roles as Stu Macher in Scream, Stevo in SLC Punk , and Shaggy Rogers in the Scooby-Doo film series and the Animated reboot series.-Early life:Lillard was born in Lansing, Michigan, and grew up in Tustin, California...
as Jerry Conlaine - Dax ShepardDax ShepardDax Randall Shepard is an American actor.- Early life :Shepard was born in Milford, Michigan and attended Muir Junior High and Walled Lake Central High School, before enrolling in The Groundlings school. He later received a degree in anthropology at UCLA...
as Tom Marshall - Burt ReynoldsBurt ReynoldsBurton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
as Del Knox - Bonnie SomervilleBonnie SomervilleBonnie Somerville is an American actress and singer. As an actress, she has had roles in a number of movies and television series, most notably NYPD Blue, Grosse Pointe, Friends, The O.C. and Cashmere Mafia....
as Denise - Ethan SupleeEthan SupleeEthan Suplee is an American film and television actor best known for his roles as Seth Ryan in American History X, Louie Lastik in Remember the Titans, Frankie in Boy Meets World, Randy Hickey in My Name Is Earl, Thumper in The Butterfly Effect, Dewey in Unstoppable, and his roles in Kevin Smith...
as Elwood - Ray BakerRay Baker (actor)Ray Baker is an American theater, television and film actor. He is a long time character actor with over 100 credits on television and film alone. Baker is credited either as Ray or Raymond.-Selected filmography:...
as Sheriff Briggs - Abraham BenrubiAbraham BenrubiAbraham Rubin Hercules Benrubi is an American character actor known for his appearances as Jerry Markovic on the long-running U.S...
as Dennis - Rachel BlanchardRachel BlanchardRachel Elise Blanchard is a Canadian actress.-Early life:Blanchard was born in Toronto, Ontario, and graduated from Havergal College in Toronto, going on to Queen's University.-Career:...
as Flower - Christina MooreChristina MooreChristina Moore is an American actress. She is most notable for her membership in the main cast of comedians on sketch comedy series MADtv, for replacing Lisa Robin Kelly as Laurie Forman on That '70s Show during the sixth season and for portraying Candy Sullivan in the TNT show Hawthorne.She had...
as Butterfly - Antony StarrAntony StarrAntony Starr is a New Zealand television actor best known for his dual role as twins Jethro and Van West in New Zealand's hit comedy/drama Outrageous Fortune.-Career:...
as Billy Newwood - Little Bart the BearBart the BearBart the Bear was an Alaskan Kodiak Bear that appeared in several Hollywood films. Previously, Bart's mother appeared in the films Grizzly and Day of the Animals. Animal trainers Doug Seus and Lynne Seus of Wasatch Rocky Mountain Wildlife, Inc., in Heber City, Utah, trained Bart...
as Bear
Production
Although the film details an ill-prepared camping and canoe trip into the Oregon wilds, Without A Paddle was filmed in New Zealand to take advantage of tax rebates. Most of the outdoor camping scenes were shot inside a very large warehouse.Reception
Without a Paddle received many negative reviews from the critics. Based on 122 reviews collected by the film review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, 15% of critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 4/10.
The film was a commercial success, grossing $58,169,327 in North American and $11,461,791 internationally, making its worldwide gross $69,631,118.
The poor reception of the film is alluded to in the Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
episode "Something, Something, Something, Dark Side
Something, Something, Something, Dark Side
"Something, Something, Something, Dark Side" is the season finale of the eighth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy and part of the series's trilogy Laugh It Up, Fuzzball. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on May 23, 2010...
" – a spoof of George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
' The Empire Strikes Back. At the end of the episode, Peter mocks Chris (played by Seth Green
Seth Green
Seth Benjamin Green is an American actor, comedian, voice actor, and television producer. He is well known for his role as Daniel "Oz" Osbourne in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as Dr. Evil's son Scott in the Austin Powers series of comedy films, Mitch Miller in That '70s Show, and the voice of Chris...
) about the movie. Green's character then curses at Peter and runs out of the room.