STRANGE WILDERNESS — * — Steve Zahn, Allen Covert, Ashley Scott; rated R (vulgarity, profanity, drugs, violence, nudity, sex, gore, slurs); Century Sandy and South Salt Lake; Cinemark Jordan Landing; Megaplex District, Gateway and Jordan Commons

"Strange Wilderness" should be funny. Well, it should at least be funnier than it is.

After all, the film stars Steve Zahn, and he's been the only good thing about such comedy duds as "Daddy Day Care," "National Security" and "Saving Silverman."

However, it's a sign of just how awful this supposed comedy from the Adam Sandler camp is when even Zahn can't get a couple of chuckles. "Wilderness" is a painful farce that defies any and all efforts to laugh at it. (That even includes the target demographic — the stoner crowd.)

Zahn plays Peter Gaulke, the son of a legendary television wildlife program host. Peter inherited the show after his father's death but has pretty much run it into the ground.

In fact, the show is in danger of being canceled. Fortunately, Peter has come into possession of a map that may lead him to Bigfoot's Central American hideout.

But Peter and his buddies (Allen Covert, Justin Long, Jonah Hill and Kevin Heffernan) are already days behind Peter's chief rival, Sky Pierson (Harry Hamlin).

This is clearly an ego-driven project for director Fred Wolf and co-screenwriter Peter Gaulke — for one thing, they named the two main characters after themselves.

Apparently these two former "Saturday Night Live" writers couldn't come up with much material for this cast either. Zahn and the others appear to be making things up as they go.

But as humiliating as this mess is for them, it's even more disheartening to see big-screen veteran Ernest Borgnine slumming here.

"Strange Wilderness" is rated R for crude sexual and bodily function humor (references and sight gags), strong sexual language (profanity, vulgar slang and other suggestive talk), strong drug content (marijuana use and references, as well as anesthetic use and abuse), comic violence (animal attacks, shootings and pranks), female nudity, simulated sex, some gore and blood, and slurs based on race and sexual preference. Running time: 86 minutes.

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E-mail: jeff@desnews.com