Weirdsville (2007)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Allan Moyle

Writer:

Willem Wennekers (written by)

Release Date:

12 October 2007 (Canada)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

Plot:

A pair of slackers get in way over their heads when they try to dump the body of a dead girlfriend in the basement of a drive-in movie theater where a satanic cult performs ritual sacrifices.

Plot Keywords:

Drive In | Satanic Cult | Drive In Theater | Morphine | Bound And Gagged

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Scott Speedman	...	Dexter
Wes Bentley	...	Royce
Taryn Manning	...	Matilda
Matt Frewer	...	Jason Taylor
Greg Bryk	...	Abel
Maggie Castle	...	Treena
Raoul Bhaneja	...	Omar
Joe Dinicol	...	Jeremy Taylor
Jordan Prentice	...	Martin
Dax Ravina	...	Seamus
Elizabeth Lennie	...	Irene Taylor
James McQuade	...	Garry
Shayne Wyler	...	Todd
Joey Beck	...	Sheldon
Allan Redford	...	Theo

MPAA:

Rated R for drug content, language including sexual references, and some violence.

Runtime:

USA:90 min | Germany:90 min (European Film Market)

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Canada:14A | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Brantford, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Darius Films

Trivia:

During two Q&A sessions at the Vancouver International Film Festival (2007), director Allan Moyle stated that he intended to use completely different and better known songs for several of the sequences on the film. Because of how expensive the rights of those songs were, he decided to use local bands (Ontario, Canada) to supply the needed music for the scenes.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Royce: Slow down!
[trips over a tree]
Royce: Fucking tree!

Movie Connections:

References The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Soundtrack:

Rock Song

Are junkies really this pleasant?

WARNING: This movie is unapologetically Canadian... which, in this case, is a good thing. Especially when this film could have been set in any city, town or village in the world.

I expected a low-budget, independent attempt at art. And what starts as out tragic and dark, grows into a fun, "what can happen now" sort of adventure that is surprisingly amusing. Yes, it's goofy at times. Yes, it borders on ridiculous, too. But dammit, it's fun. It carefully dances on the fine line of gross tragedy and outright slapstick, but doesn't quite cross the line either way.

The production value is fairly high, even if the budget wasn't. (The gritty darkness really suits the adventures of two junkies, anyway.) Scott Speedman and Wes Bentley build a real chemistry that grows on you and it's really good to see Bentley in a role that is FINALLY likable. Taryn Manning also does a good job, although I fear she's going to get pigeon-holed into similar roles. She deserves better. The rest of the cast does a solid job with no obvious weak link.

Finally, people are going to draw a lot of similarities to other movies. I would like to think of this as a strange cross between "Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas" and "Dude, Where's My Car?", with it leaning favourably toward the Dude side. It has a couple of introspective, deep moments, but balances it out with lighter, playful moments the rest of the time.

Really, if you ever "got the joke" of "Dude, Where's My Car?" or even found some sick humour out of the head trip of "Fear And Loathing..." check out "Weirdsville". You may be pleasantly surprised. 8 out of 10.