By Alexandra Harper 
One of the best things about festivals is seeing the opening of a new movie at midnight. There are laughs, cheers, and hollers from the crowd, and that’s all before the title card even comes down. This kind of rowdy crowd is great for “Buddy,” as the energy makes the movie more fun and sometimes makes up for what the movie lacks overall. There are a lot of ideas that choose crazy execution over fully developed conclusions. The result is a bit of a mixed bag that relies on the success of an enthusiastic audience and a big vibes check. And to be honest, that’s fine as long as you can see it the way it was meant to be seen with the right people and the right attitude. I don’t know how it would do outside of the fair zone, but the crowd loved it in the snow-capped mountains.
Casper Kelly moves from making Adult Swim shows like “Too Many Cooks” and “Stroker & Hoop” to making a full-length movie called “Buddy.” The movie stays true to its roots because it looks like it was taken straight from Cartoon Network at 2 a.m. Thanks, because that’s a great way to spend a late night when you’re about to pass out from drinking too much. It’s based on a simple but effective idea: a kids’ TV show from the 1990s (think “Barney” or “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse”) with a cute magical horse named Buddy who sings and teaches the other kids around him. Soon, someone dies on the show, and a kid who refused to join the dance party goes missing for no clear reason. Some of the other kids start to wonder where he went, and they quickly figure out that the fun-loving Buddy isn’t who he seems to be and that they are stuck in the show. They try to get away and get to Diamond City, but as they go, things get more dangerous and the difference between real life and TV starts to blur.
The puppets and production design are both perfect, and almost everything in “Buddy” was done in real life and on camera. Kelly is having just as much fun with his crazy ideas and stacked cast as he is putting together every frame with crazy set pieces and fully functional dolls that look purposely scruffy. Cristin Miloti, Topher Grace, Keegan Micheal-Key, Michael Shannon, and Patton Oswald are all in that cast, and they are all fully committed to the idea. Michael-Key, Shannon, and Oswald all do great voice work that makes them hard to spot until you look at the credits to see who did what. The beautiful design of “Buddy” is a stark reminder of what we lose when we try to digitize everything. It also shows that there is nothing better than real artists making things and physical effects. The attention to detail makes you constantly aware that you are in a TV show, and that literally pulls you into the madness and keeps you on a fun, crazy ride.
“Buddy” is bloody, fun, and laugh-out-loud funny. It also knows when to turn the crazy level up to a level that will make people happy. “Buddy” gets more and more fun as it gets stranger and stranger. I’m not sure if it all works because there are so many ideas and only a few are used in satisfactory ways. The last five minutes do more to build the world and send a message than most horror movies do in two and a half hours or more. I just wish it had a little more time to tie up those loose ends and make sense. Still, the message is clear, and the violence is always ridiculous. Isn’t that why we go to the movies? The satirical show “Buddy” takes aim at the dullness of kids’ TV and digs deep into millennials’ childhood memories, making those harmless singing shows into nightmares.
I really have no idea who is going to buy “Buddy” or how any company can sell it, even though a lot of people might like it. It’s not quite right for A24 or Neon, but it’s too good and has too many actors for Shudder. If “Buddy” is going to be a hit, it has to be shown in theaters with as many people as possible. None of that matters who gets it from Sundance.
Something this crazy and out there needs the energy of a crowd of people ready to check in with their vibes, and “Buddy” can’t watch it at home by himself on the couch while second-screening it in the background. There are good and bad ways to watch movies, and the best way to see “Buddy” is with a group of people watching it together on a big screen.
One example is the great movie “Buddy.” Something crazy and risky that makes the most of all its crazy ideas and pushes the limits of what movies can do. When it finds the right people, “Buddy” is a fun movie. Who would like a hug now?