Big Ass Spider
Director: Mike Mendez
Writer: Gregory Gieras
Cast: Greg Grunberg, Clare Kramer, Lombardo Boyar, Ray Wise
Part of: /slash Filmfestival

Plot:
Alex (Greg Grunberg) is an exterminator barely scraping by. During one of his jobs, he gets bitten and has to go to the hospital. While he’s there, he hears that they have a spider problem and sees the perfect opportunity not to have to pay the hospital bill. Little does he know, though, that the spider he’s hunting is not a normal spider. So he doesn’t even back down when the military gets involved.

Big Ass Spider is fun. It doesn’t take anything seriously but rather jokes its way through the plot (that could be potentially horrifying if you’d play it straight). It’s not a problem-free experience, but Greg Grunberg is charming enough that you almost don’t notice.

I had two issues witht he film that did take away from my enjoyment of it. One, Alex’s love interest Karly (Clare Krame) is presented as a supercompetent soldier who has dealt with these spiders already. Nevertheless Alex continuously saves her and she spends a good chunk of the film as a passive, cocooned kidnapping victim of the spider. And that got on my nerves. I’m honestly not sure whether the entire thing is made better or worse through the fact that at least she’s comepetent.

The other issue was Jose (Lombardo Boyar), Alex’s impromptu sidekick. Boyar gives an energetic and fun performance, no doubt about it, but I honestly wasn’t sure if the entire thing didn’t sometimes cross the line into racism. At the very least it was too close to comfort.

But Greg Grunberg was fantastic and brings the movie to life basically on his own. Alex is funny, charming, sweet and a little weird, which is just a wonderful combination.

And I did like the entire mood of the film, like everybody loved what they were doing in this film and were already entertained during the making of it. It made you feel like you’re spending a day frolicking at an amusement park, having fun.

Summarizing: Yes, very nice!