Writer and director Ben Steinbauer’s funny but poignant documentary is a cautionary tale about social media and how it made an unlikely and unwilling star of Jack Rebney. Having decided to make an advertising film to promote his RV -selling business, Rebney decides to cut a few corners on his production, leaving him high and dry when his abilities to address the camera are exposed. The footage of Rebney furiously cursing himself are hilarious, and have been widely imitated on shows like 30 Rock. But Steinbauer opens his focus to describe how the video went viral, making Rebney a cult hero and a laughing stock, and leading Steinbauer to track Rebney down to where he lives as a virtual recluse. It’s clear that Rebney set in motion something completely different to his intention, but as viral videos proliferate, Winnebago Man offers a kindly warning about how the internet can distort our best intentions.
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