I saw someone say that this film will do for pythons what Jaws did for sharks.That is what we call chasing a pull quote. I could do the same thing. The Python Hunt hits its target! A bullseye! The Python Hunt makes Anaconda don’t want none. In every generation, there is a slayer… of pythons.

I know. I should be running around preaching the good word of The Python Hunt, since it happens in my neck of the woods. For the uneducated, many moons ago we let snake breeding get out of hand, and people were releasing their snakes into a habitat that wasn’t there’s. The documentary also draws a direct line to a breeder who had 900 baby pythons when Hurricane Andrew hit, and having 900 of any creature other than an Ant is the inherent problem, but supposedly those 900 created the problem we have today. Pythons have taken over the Everglades, and they keep eating everything they can, because they grow to massive lengths, and the kinds of wildlife that exist in the Everglades, including alligators, are ill equipped to dance with the devil. So, years ago, Florida greenlit a competition to kill the most pythons,which attracts hunters every year looking for a payday. They covered this also in Craig Robinson’s Peacock comedy Killing It. I did enjoy the fictional version a bit more.

I kept my grade fresh, because my bias is working against the film somewhat. I’m just not as impressed. It takes more than a python hunt to get a Florida Man riled up. Every day, some nonsense is happening. Just this morning, some guy drove his car into someone’s home and fled the scene. Why? Did he really believe no one would find him? And it seems once a year or so someone tries to go into a Wal-MArt with an alligator. Or, someone native to Florida forgets we have alligators, and tries swimming in random bodies of water, never to be heard from again. This is a state where when it gets too cold, we have a weather warning for falling iguanas, not because our meteorologists believe iguanas actually fall from the sky, but because when it gets too cold, they go into a state like hibernation, and can fall out of the trees, making it easier to diminish another invasive species population.

The Python Hunt follows a few hunters, as they try not to pick up Cottonmouths, and also wants to balance with a dab of history, and some talk of conservation. Loved the lecture on how cats are invasive, though we don’t hunt them, and when you really think about it, man is the most invasive species.

I think this will play really well to the other 49 states that look at Florida as being some backwoods failure of a state, full of cartoonishly stupid people doing dumb things. More people were involved in the January 6th capital riot from Florida than any other state.I imagine you’ll watch this with the same irony as Swamp People or Tiger King. I know some people really worship those Real Housewives, but for the portion that watch them to laugh at, not with, The Python Hunt is the oddity designed to attract your attention.

It doesn’t have audio description, but I’ve been through Alligator Alley, and the Everglades. I know the region, not like the back of my hand, but I know what it looks like. It was less of a barrier for me.However, the film just didn’t impress me much, either because it isn’t packaged or paced as well as it could be, or because I’m immune to it. I can see its appeal, and through that, and the sheer fact something filmed in Florida, makes me want to give this a thumb up.

The Python Hunt is less for people looking for a thrill ride, and more for people who get a kick out of all the absurd things Florida Man gets involved in. While not intended to be a comedy, for many audiences, its curiosity will be.

Fresh: 6.1/10