In a land of quirky independent films from Canada, waydowntown deserves its own chapter. The film takes place in downtown Calgary yet you won’t find a single horse or oil well. You barely even see the outside in downtown Calgary but that is part of the challenge.
The film starts in the middle of a bet with 4 young people where they bet a month’s salary on how long they can stay inside. Downtown Calgary has Plus 15, a series of indoor skywalks between buildings so covering downtown without stepping outside is rather easy. The film takes place in one day, one seemingly long lunch hour on Day 28.
Fab Filippo as Tom is our protagonist. Tom doesn’t like his job in the big law firm where the contestants work. Marya Delver as Sandra West is a good friend, though you aren’t quite sure if Sandra and Tom were/are an item. There is chemistry of some kind. While in some films, I care about such details but here I settle easily for what appears to be sexual tension. Gordon Currie as Curt Schwin is Tom's rival and kind of a jerk. Tobias Godson as Randy is Tom’s best friend.
Tom and Sandra have unusual lunchtime assignments and keep running into each other.
waydowntown, which came out in 1999, might remind you of The Contest episode on Seinfeld (1992) in the sense that the contestants are heavily tempted to end the bet.
Sandra is convinced that she is suffocating by breathing the indoor air. Curt is horny and his fiancee is saving herself. Tom inadvertently lets Curt know that their co-worker Vicki is emotional vulnerable. If Curt can seduce Vicki, then he can stay indoors a lot longer.
Unlike the Seinfeld episode, you realize along the way that the contest is a front to present slackers and lost motivation in the corporate world.
Don McKellar adds his level of awkwardness to Bradley, who has a few emotional issues. Tom picks on Bradley, which adds to his already anxious nature.
The isolation adds to the madness and the audience can feel trapped in this world. Fortunately for writer/director Gary Burns, being in this world is worth staying.
Burns brings some real Calgary play into the script starting waydowntown with the actual morning show from an actual Calgary radio station — CJAY 92 FM — with the real station’s phone number.
The one major drawback is Burns doesn’t do a whole lot with Randy as a character. When Tom announces that the bet involves Tom, Randy, Sandra, and Curt, I instantly asked myself “which one is Randy?” Randy is more introspective than the other characters, which is fine, but in a contest with 4 people, all 4 need distinction within the film.
CanadianCrossing.com film reviews
CanadianCrossing.com film coverage
Though waydowntown came out in 1999, modern millennials would appreciate the characters uncertainty about their place in the world. The use of unknown actors leads extra credibility. For all the Canadian films that I’ve watched, McKellar is the only actor I remember from anything else.
Even though we don’t see much of Calgary, you feel a different vibe than slacker independent films from Ontario. In 1999, Calgary was a lot smaller but a large city surrounded by nature and farms.
video credit: YouTube/FestivalesBA
photo credit: waydowntown film
Comments