Review

The frustrating, borderline exploitative, madly entertaining documentary Winnebago Man takes off from director Ben Steinbauer’s love for one of the first “viral videos”—a 1988 outtake reel from an RV promotional film, widely circulated on VHS, in which the middle-aged host, one Jack Rebney, turns nearly every bungled line into a stream of motherbleeping expletives directed at himself and others. While hunting for the mysterious Rebney, Steinbauer takes detours into the universe of YouTube sensations and examines a new breed of celebrity-victim. How did that video change the course of Rebney’s life? Is humiliation a small or too-large price to pay for immortality? — David Edelstein