Speaking frankly, a film named Butt Crew could go in a number of different directions. However, it’s a safe bet that the newest Josh Whiteman film essay of the same name goes somewhere you would never guess. Specifically, it goes into a drainage ditch behind a Home Depot. The 8-minute short is a tagalong adventure with an anonymous narrator recalling some youthful folly in which he, and a crew, explore a forbidden backlot while having a friendly discussion on the eponymous butts. It is, in a word, hilarious.
It’s also safe to say it’s absurd. That’s a tricky style to convey. Go too deep into it and you’re going to lose audience members. Don’t go far enough, viewers won’t understand what it is they’re supposed to find so funny. Whiteman pushes his subject matter right into a sweet spot. Upon first viewing you may be tempted to believe this is all a well executed scripted exercise but the details that emerge are just too amusing not to be real. How could someone possibly have made all this up? Yes, it’s absurd but you’ll find yourself wishing to be a part of the Butt Crew yourself. May we all be so lucky.
Writer and director Josh Whiteman is no stranger to the digital pages of We Own This Town. We premiered his production company’s mystifying short Ignoramus, his hysterical and sweet film essay Horny Kid, his music video for Nosediver and his performance series Live at Josh’s House. We are definitive fans and have been singing his praises for years.
The best part of being a longtime fan is the ability to reflect on the creator’s growth. Butt Crew is as entertaining as Whiteman has ever been but it’s also poignant. If you hold your head just right, it’s a reflection on the innocent undertakings of youth. When’s the last time you crawled into a drain pipe with some of your friends to just talk about something ridiculous? As we get older, that sort of thing is deemed irresponsible, a waste of time or just bizarre. The Butt Crew may have been bizarre but it sounds like they were having a blast and it sounds like our narrator laments those lost days. It’s a feeling Whiteman is able to convey expertly, as it never feels the least bit heavy handed.
We recommend you stop everything at this very moment and watch Butt Crew. When you’re done, go review it on Letterboxd and then call up a few of your pals from back in the day. Let yourself reminiscence on the times you had together. Maybe, just maybe, you can get your own butt crew back together.