Yoga Yosers: Another Weird Trip to the Great North

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Yoga Hosers is a strange little film that features yoga, hosers and murderous sauages. It is the second chapter of Kevin Smith’s Great North trilogy (Tusk came first) and it proves there are a lot of weird antics happening in Smith’s version on Canada. I am a longtime Kevin Smith fan and will continue to read his books, listen to his podcasts and watch his increasingly stoned-out films long after they’ve stopped making sense. Yoga Hosers is far from Clerks and Chasing Amy but it has a weird charm because it is only meant for Kevin Smith fans. I know as a fan I should expect more from a guy who is capable of better work, but I appreciate that he has completely given up on regaining old form and makes low-budget films he is passionate about. You can sense that Smith loved every second of directing Yoga Yosers, and didn’t forsee the critical derision the film would receive.

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Yoga Hosers centers around the further adventures of the two cell phone addicted convenience store employees featured in Tusk. Colleen (Lily-Rose Depp) and Colleen (Harley Quinn Smith) spend their days being pithy, playing music, annoying their high school teachers and practicing yoga with their teacher Yogi Bayer (Justin Long). A big problem arises when they are forced to work on a Friday night and can’t make a senior party they were invited too. Their bad night gets worse when they are attacked by Canadian Satanists AND killer Nazi bratwursts (Bratzis) in the confines of the already annoying convenience store (they weren’t even supposed to be there!!). After the deadly battle they are arrested for killing the Satanists and their only salvation comes in the form of detective Guy Lapointe (Johnny Depp). From there it gets weirder and we are treated to bad accents, more Bratzis and “eh” jokes.

The reason I can’t outright dismiss Yoga Hosers is because of the all-in performances. I may be the only person on the planet who appreciates the weirdness of Johnny Depp’s heavily accented Guy Lapointe (he was in Tusk). Depp plays it fast and loose and seems like he really enjoys acting alongside his daughter Lily. Lily-Rose Depp and Harley Quinn Smith are likable as well, and I wish they were given Clerks/Mallrats dialogue instead of the rushed self-satisfied dialogue Smith has been churning out. Smith admitted that he made the film for tweens and he had this to say at the Fantasia Film Festival:

What you are about to see is what I intended to be a kids movie. I made it for tween girls. I never made a kids movie in my life, this is the movie I wanted to see when I was a 12-year-old girl.

So, Smith has written/directed/produced a movie that is meant for tween girls and focuses on murderous Nazi sauages. Once you are able to accept that this is a weird little thing, I think you might embrace it. Smith has always been incredibly earnest on his podcast, and this film is a transparent little thing that he made so he could work with his daughter. Being a fan of Kevin Smith means accepting the good, the bad and Yoga Yosers. I might be a glutton for punishment but I hope he finishes his trilogy and makes Moose Jaws.

If you are a Kevin Smith fan I totally recommend Yoga Yosers.