Nerds, Bigfoot and a local gal: What's not to love?

An audience-award-winner at this year's Slamdance film festival, "The Sasquatch Gang" is a charmingly goofy slice of alternative entertainment, just outré enough to make Hollywood bean-counters skittish.

To be sure, this nerd-friendly comedy (co-produced by actor Kevin Spacey) won't set the box office on fire, and writer-director Tim Skousen (who served as assistant director on "Napoleon Dynamite") is obviously trying to match the phenomenal success of that earlier film. "Napoleon" stars Jon Heder and Jon Gries make brief appearances, but lightning isn't striking twice.

Instead, "The Sasquatch Gang" capitalizes on hilariously off-kilter dialogue and the geek-appeal of its fresh young cast, led by Jeremy Sumpter (from 2003's underrated "Peter Pan") and including Addie Land, a graduate of Seattle's Nova High School who earned praise for her debut in 2004's indie drama "Evergreen."

Land is equally appealing here as Sophie, awkwardly on the cusp of young womanhood and so fearful of becoming overweight that she wires her jaw shut to avoid solid food. That's the kind of character quirk that Skousen's humor thrives on: endearingly pathetic yet familiar to anyone who endured a less-than-perfect adolescence.

Sophie's got a thing for Gavin (Sumpter), a fantasy buff who enjoys sword-and-sorcery horseplay with his pals, the chunky, insecure Hobie (Hubbel Palmer, worthy of his own movie) and little squirt Maynard (Rob Pinkston). They hope to spark a media sensation when they discover Bigfoot tracks and a large pile of Bigfoot poop in a local nature park.

But it's a scam set up by Zerk (Justin Long, the "Mac guy" from Macintosh TV ads) and Shirts (mellowed-out scene-stealer Joey Kern), a pair of addlebrained metalheads with an urgent need for cash. Apart from the arrival of a hammy Bigfoot expert (Carl Weathers, light years from Apollo Creed), "The Sasquatch Gang" is otherwise blissfully devoid of plot.

Curiously nonchronological and set in a sunny suburban Oregon where shirts are optional (at least in Shirts' family) and VHS tapes still dominate the local video store (seriously, what self-respecting nerd prefers DVDs?), "The Sasquatch Gang" may not fully qualify as an undiscovered gem, but it's got some dynamite all its own.

Jeff Shannon: j.sh@verizon.net