Waydowntown

Waydowntown
Directed by	Gary Burns
Produced by	Gary Burns Shirley Vercruysse
Written by	Gary Burns James Martin
Starring	Fab Filippo Don McKellar Marya Delver Michelle Beaudoin
Music by	John Abram
Distributed by	Odeon Films (Canada) Lot 47 (USA)
Release date(s)	September 10, 2000
Running time	87 min.
Language	English
Budget	$700,000 CAD (estimated)

Waydowntown is a film directed by Gary Burns, released in 2000 which explores office driven culture. The film takes place in Calgary, Alberta, where many downtown buildings are connected by a network of skywalks called Plus 15. As a result, the hustle and bustle of the main street has been replaced by recirculated air, food courts, and fluorescent lights. This is the setting for Burns' sardonic comedy about Canadian corporate culture.

Plot

The film centres on a group of colleagues in downtown Calgary, Alberta, who bet a month's salary on who can last the longest without going outside. The film takes place over one lunch hour during the course of the month long competition. The dark comedy often uses surrealism to achieve its goals.

The cast includes Fab Filippo, Don McKellar, Marya Delver and Michelle Beaudoin.

The film's title is derived from a particular form of suicide where one smashes the (non-openable) window of one's high-rise office and then jumps through. Many people go "downtown", but such folks go "waydowntown". In the movie, one of the characters has accumulated a 2-litre pop bottle full of marbles in the hopes of breaking his window.

Cast

• Fab Filippo as Tom
• Don McKellar as Brad
• Marya Delver as Sandra West
• Gordon Currie as Curt Schwin
• Jennifer Clement as Vicki
• Tammy Isbell as Kathy
• Tobias Godson as Randy

Production

The majority of the film was shot in TD Square, the Calgary Eaton Centre, and Bankers Hall. The company's offices are situated in the TD Canada Trust Tower. The low-budget film was shot on digital and later transferred to 35 mm.

Reception

The film as of May 1st, 2009 has a 70% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Most critics praise the satirical elements, casting, and plot. Others find the film to be humorless, incomplete, and the plot to be too nonsensical and uninteresting.^[1]

Trivia

• The radio station CJAY 92 that plays "Start A Rumor Day" throughout the film is a real rock station in Calgary, with the station's actual DJs (the DJ "Bob", is Bob Steele, no longer with the station). The phone number that is mentioned is the station's phone number.

See also

• Office Space

References

External links

• Waydowntown at the Internet Movie Database
• waydowntown at Rotten Tomatoes