Review of Wilby Wonderful

Wilby Wonderful on Reel 13

Reel 13's latest Indie hails from north of the border and features a cavalcade of present day Canadian stars (if there is such a thing), boasting the likes of Sandra Oh, Paul Gross, Maury Chaykin and the current it-girl Ellen Page (before she became super-cute). The film is a wannabe Altman with its multitude of characters intersecting in a small island town (named Wilby) somewhere in Canada (I think they make a reference to being on the East Coast of the country – other than that, I have no idea of the geography). The tone of the piece is less satirical Altman, however, and more sitcom – like "Northern Exposure" with blander writing and less interesting or believable characters.

Ultimately, WILBY WONDERFUL is pretty slow and boring. Very little of the film was able to interest me or capture my attention. Even a subplot involving the controversy over the growing decadence of the landmark park ground known as Wilby Watch felt contrived and forced. The film seems to suffer the same fate as AMERICAN WAKE in that all its stories and subplots dilute each other. Instead of having one well-told, interesting story, they have several empty and incomplete ones. It's amazing how often in cinema that less is actually more.

I normally don't like Sandra Oh, but found her to be among the more seasoned members of the ensemble. Ellen Page showed the early promise that she has since fulfilled with this year's Oscar-nominated turn in JUNO. Maury Chaykin is reliably good as usual (Secret Outstanding Maury Chaykin Performance: MYSTERY, ALASKA). Most of the other performances of the film are quite unfortunate. I don't see what all the buzz is about Paul Gross - I mean, I suppose he's good looking, but that's pretty much all he's got goin' on. Rebecca Jenkins is an irritation on screen – very little depth or subtleties in her choices. Callum Keith Rennie is similarly unable to portray the complexities of character that the story seemed to require – though it is granted that the scenes/dialogue don't give any of them much to work with.

There is one extremely memorable performance in the movie and that is from veteran Canadian actor/director James Allodi as Dan Jarvis. He is given very little to actually say in the film, which is probably the best thing to have happened to him. He is able to communicate his pain and anguish with his eyes and perhaps most impressively, his body language - the way he carries himself. It is a complete performance and one wishes that he had more screen time.

Allodi's storyline takes a major shift at the beginning of the third act of the film, which is a shift in tone for the entire film. It is a terrible tragedy in the story, the execution of which is done well. At that point, it seems like the film is upping its game and going to turn the corner to start to finally display depth and layers. Less than a minute later, however, it is washed away as the director chooses to play the tragedy as slapstick comedy. The film goes from Bergman to "Laverne & Shirley" in one swift, awful stroke. I was appalled at the way the moment was handled.

The final think I want to say about the film is that the accents drove me crazy – and this is coming from a guy who can watch TRAINSPOTTING over and over again. I don't know what it is and they probably find our American accents just as annoying, but their weird Canadian drawl was like nails on a chalkboard for me. I very nearly muted the television every time Rebecca Jenkins was on screen. Sandra Oh is the only one who seems to have outgrown her Canuck roots. She sounds as she normally does, which unfortunately, also makes her seem like she's in the wrong movie. On the bright side, I did learn my new favorite word as uttered innumerable times in the film by Ellen Page – arsehole. I've been using it constantly since Saturday. As a matter of fact, it could be the best thing to come from Canada since hockey (which is much more than I can say for the film itself).

(For more information on this or any other Reel 13 film, check out their website at www.reel13.org)

Posted on 11/19/08 by: eplromeo8 03:38 PM