Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Peter Outerbridge | ... | Earl | |
Paul Campbell | ... | Jimmy | |
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John Callander | ... | Bobby |
Nicki Clyne | ... | Barb | |
John F. Parker | ... | Grampy | |
Chris Gauthier | ... | Clayton | |
Bill Croft | ... | Barry | |
Kurt Evans | ... | Tom | |
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Brian Leslie | ... | Bud |
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Jane Sowerby | ... | Jan |
Howard Siegel | ... | Stan | |
Jennifer Copping | ... | Jennifer | |
Joely Collins | ... | Beth | |
Alejandro Rae | ... | Colt (as Alex Rae) | |
Bill Mackenzie | ... | Chuck |
Mark A. Lewis's tragic-comic adventure ILL FATED plunges the viewer into the boxed-in world of Jimmy, a small-town teen who seeks a better life but who sees dead-end signs at every turn out of town. His vague plan to leave and "look into college" is complicated by a revolving door of small-town complications - the demands of his lumpen best friends, his troubled girlfriend, his promiscuous stepmother and cuckolded stepfather. But the biggest complication of all is the return of his womanizing biological dad Earl, who'd fled in Jimmy's infancy after impregnating the wife of a violent convict (also his best friend). Earl's return is a catalyst to disaster, and a palette for director Lewis to paint a hyper-realist picture of small-town dystopia.ul. Written by Prehumous Productions Inc.
I've read a couple reviews. One was good and seemed to get it but the other was terrible - and in my mind way off base. The reviewer took the drama way too seriously instead of enjoying the vibrancy of the film and how *beeped* up this guy's situation is. I thought the film was hilarious. And refreshing in how the filmmakers broke the mold of a typical Canadian film. I like Canadian films but this one was ballsy; took a hyper-real approach... which I think is great. Think Fellini in backwater Canada. Historically, critics have always had trouble appreciating films that deviate from realism. The reason for this I think is that they're... critiquing. When a film is expressed through impressions of ideas or feelings (from surrealism to absurdism), the aesthetic can only be experienced through, for lack of a better word, feeling. The greatest filmmakers have fallen victim to this pitfall (from Fellini to Powell/Pressburger, to Kubrick and Wes Anderson). But regardless, it's the test of time that proves the worth of little films like this. We'll have to wait and see.