A Problem with Fear (2003)

Director:

Gary Burns

Writers:

Donna Brunsdale (writer)
Gary Burns (writer)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

A young man in Calgary, Alberta is multiphobic: nonetheless, he believes that he is the cause of the fear which is killing people around him. |

Plot Keywords:

Anxiety | Female Frontal Nudity | Freak Accident | Nudity | Elevator

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Paulo Costanzo	...	Laurie
Emily Hampshire	...	Dot
Willie Garson	...	Erin
Camille Sullivan	...	Michelle
Benjamin Ratner	...	Alan
Keegan Connor Tracy	...	Vicky
Marnie Alton	...	Daphne
Donna Brunsdale	...	Wanda
James McBurney	...	Bill
Peter Strand Rumpel	...	Jerry
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gregory D. Alvas	...	Stylish Young Man
Michael Matthew Barker	...	Business Man
Rita Bozi	...	P.A. Announcer
Lee Cameron	...	Businessman #1
Gillian Carfra	...	Global Safety Saleswoman
Jennifer Clement	...	Tina
Vanessa Couturier	...	Egg Girl
Erika D'Alessio	...	Tiger Girl
Joyce Doolittle	...	Old Woman in Mall
Marty Hanenberg	...	Businessman #3
Gail Hanrahan	...	China Shop Customer
Carey Lees	...	Crying Secretary
Daniel Libman	...	News Anchor
Sarah Lind	...	Nerd Girl
Anita Matthys	...	Receptionist
David L. McCallum	...	Irate Business Man on Subway (as David McCullum)
Kristin Nowosad	...	Naked Girl
Bagenstos Rachelle	...	Teenaged Girl
Jeremy Raymond	...	Security Guard
Luigi Riscaldino	...	Robber
Meg Roe	...	Bonny
Lorna Sandberg	...	Sandy Hansen
Brian Stollery	...	Global Safety Salesman
Frank Takacs	...	Car Victim
Leigh Ann Taylor	...	Young Mother on Subway
Brian Wrench	...	Businessman on Subway

Also Known As:

Parano (Canada: French title)

Runtime:

Canada:92 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | Canada:94 min (Ontario)

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company:

Burns Film Ltd.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Many scenes were set in subway stations. Calgary does not have a subway system. The city's light rail system is mainly above ground, as are all 36 stations.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Weird Sex and Snowshoes: A Trek Through the Canadian Cinematic Psyche (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Walking Lizard

Would work as a short Film

Gary Burns likes to be cool. His movies are cool. "waydowntown" was really cool. "A Problem With Fear" is not cool.

"A Problem With Fear" has a great premise, is well acted and (sometimes) well shot. The problem is it just does not work for 90 mins. It could have if the director gave us more plot and less cool. Instead of giving a little more exposition and back round, Gary Burns decided to populate his movie with lots of subplots and shots of naked women running across the street. I'm sure it all means something...something really cool.

"A Problem With Fear" is set (I think) in the "Not So Distant Future" where one company is trying to cause the stock market to crash by sort of 'V' chipping the city into a "Fear Storm" (this happens by having the most phobic person on the planet send telepathic waves of fear which manifest into real tragedies: escalator deaths, elevator deaths, traffic deaths...) Make sense? No? Well that's okay neither does the movie.

"A Problem With Fear" is just too busy being a satire to really get a grasp on what it's satirizing: Corporate fear mongering for profit (Code Yellow anyone?). If Gary Burns had spent a little more time with plot points and character arcs and a little less time on glib hipster-mall -culture wit he might have made a movie worth thinking about. As it stands now this film is just a wannabe Lynchian fable. Sorry but the naked woman running in slow motion, for no reason, isn't symbolic...it's dumb. I don't know, maybe I'm just not hip enough to get it.

Gary Burns should keep doing what he's doing, eventually he'll make a REALLY COOL Movie. As it stands "A Problem With Fear" should have been a really cool short film.