Publication Date: 08-01-2026

Winnebago Man (2009) review

Dir. Ben Steinbauer

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★★½

My introduction to the infamous “Winnebago Man” video was when I first watched Ben Steinhauer’s documentary, the DVD one I borrowed from my uncle, who implored me to watch it. The famous four-and-a-half-minute video was an assemblage of outtakes and bloopers from a 1988 recording session in which TV pitchmen/local journalist Jack Rebney was tasked with doing a promotional video for Winnebago campers. The clippings show take-after-take in which Rebney fumbles his lines, forgot his lines, was distracted by members of his crew, got angry at his crew, got angry at himself, and, at one point, decries how “this shit ain’t fucking worth it.” The way in which Rebney so eloquently enunciates each and every obscenity he utters would’ve probably made George Carlin grin ear-to-ear, if he ever saw the video.

Even with Carlin, my father, and Joe Pesci’s voices and vulgarities firmly entrenched in my head, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a single greater obscenity uttered by any single person than when Rebney screams, “GOD DAMN, SON OF A BITCH!”

The clip, known as “Winnebago Man,” had to be edited by one of the crewmembers working on that shoot, whom also had to be livid at Rebney for his verbal tirades and prolific errors on what was already a swelteringly hot day of filming in Forest City, Iowa. By the mid-1990s, the video had spread like wildfire, but not on smartphones and YouTube, which wouldn’t exist for another 15-or-so years. The clip was copied onto hundreds, if not thousands, of VHS tapes by countless individuals, who passed the tapes around to their friends. By the time the video was uploaded to YouTube in 2006, most of those viewing it were the same ones who helped preserve it to the point where it survived this long.

The “Winnebago Man” video continues to put a smile on my face. It’s one of those “go-tos” I watch a couple times a year when I’m in a dour or bitter mood and need to smile. Documentarian Ben Steinbauer has similar nostalgia for the video, which is where the Winnebago Man documentary comes in. He scours the internet for clues as to who Jack Rebney is and where he is now. Pervasive sleuthing leads him to tracking down Rebney in the woods of Northern California, where he lives alone, is a self-described “hermit,” and seeks companionship that only his loyal dog can provide. It has nothing to do with his viral fame. It has everything to do with him having worked in media for decades and not giving a shit anymore.

In his late 70s, Rebney — who is progressively losing his eyesight due to glaucoma — spends his days as a caretaker for a nearby fishing resort. How he will continue to be as active as he wants to be and get around his humble abode with no consistent visitors and deteriorating vision is left unexplained. At times, Steinbauer hijacks the oxygen, especially early on, when his eagerness clearly exhausts the elderly Rebney, who we see takes pride in using words like “historicity” without being interrupted. Furthermore, Rebney doesn’t discuss his early life very often, for Steinbauer doesn’t ask him questions of that nature. I would’ve liked to see what the old man had to say about starring as “Captain 11” in a short-lived children’s show on WMIN-TV back in the 1950s.

But in a fleeting, fast-paced 80 minutes, we see that Rebney is not a cartoon, but instead, a serious individual. He speaks of working for CBS during three separate times in his life, and leaving on his own volition during each stint. He thinks the world is going to hell, and during his acid-tongued rants about Dick Cheney, we wonder what kind of four-letter words he’d used to describe Donald Trump and his despicable clown car administration. Rebney lived to be 93, and passed away in 2023, so he surely had strong opinions on him, the COVID-19 pandemic, and more.

Steinbauer effectively gets Rebney out of the house and out in the neighborhood. The two are almost arrested on the premises of a local Walmart, where Rebney can’t help himself but insult a rent-a-cop. Winnebago Man builds to a climactic sequence where Steinbauer brings Jack to the Found Footage Festival, an annual gathering of folks who grew up on VHS oddities traded amongst their friends. We can see an initially nervous and apprehensive Rebney take the stage only to chuckle at the warmth and sincerity of the audience and slowly inch himself into his natural, vulgar self.

At the festival, the big question for Rebney from one audience member, in regard to the original video, is if he ever figured out how to pronounce the word “accoutrement.” A French man in the audience says it aloud a couple times to give everyone the proper pronunciation. Rebney scoffs, and explains that when you’re out in Iowa, in 100-degree heat, compounded by 98% humidity, “it’s fucking, ‘acutrama’!”

NOTE: As of this writing, Winnebago Man is available to watch on YouTube, free of charge.

Directed by: Ben Steinbauer.