Weirdsville

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.

Slacker buddies Dexter Ryan (Scott Speedman) and Royce Gordon (Wes Bentley) are forced to sell drugs for Omar to pay off a drug debt. Royce's girlfriend Matilda (Taryn Manning) dies from an OD and the boys dispose of the body in the basement of a closed drive-in theater. A Satanic cult kills a guy upstairs and decides to kill the boys to use all four bodies. Instead, Matilda is revived and the trio escapes the cult. With Omar looking for his money, the boys decide to steal a safe from Jason Taylor (Matt Frewer).

Giving drugs to drug addicts for the purpose of selling to repay their debt to you seems to be a horrible idea. I'm just saying. Anyways, this Canadian indie is trying to be low grade Trainspotting with a dash of Tarantino and Guy Ritchie. It is low grade and the product has been stepped on a lot. It can be seen in the fight between the blonde and the midget. It should be the most ridiculous visual fun. Instead, the directing lacks the energy to drive up the intensity. This has all the intentions and it has some good actors. It's just not as good as it wants to be.

A lot of Canadian film is good, but this is sadly not up to par. There are a few good laughs here and there but it seems like this film was trying to imitate other, better films like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Pulp Fiction. It doesn't work. The acting isn't as good. The story is weaker and the whole thing feels rather rather contrived. Instead of introducing new ideas into this drug caper/comedy genre, the same old ideas are tromped out and they aren't very fulfilling for the viewer. There are coincidences here and there and I don't really mind coincidences if they work. Here they didn't and I found that brought the movie down.

What a fabulous movie full of oddball characters and realistic dialog that is very funny. Two junkies come up with a scheme to pull a job in order to pay off a debt they can't pay at the moment. They get chased by Satan worshipers, dwarfs(or are they gnomes?), and of course the cops now and then. Every twist in this movie is a turn into something bizarre and unexpected and delicious.

I love the character of the female Satan worshiper Treena she's able to kick some ass and nothing looks sexier on a woman than some spirit like that. Maggie Castle soaks up and RULES this minor role and is absolutely delicious in every frame. Maggie Castle - MEOW!!

One of the great things that keeps this movie together is the dialog between old party buddies, it felt very real with the games they play on each other all the time and the continual verbal sparring adds a nice jump to the flick's pace.

This movie reminded me of Pulp Fiction or Killing Zoe or Love is a .45, or Way of the Gun in the way it's an indie style road movie with weird characters all over the place.

It's great to see a film that moves along so freely and easily but also has a clever writer behind it.

Someone mentioned that the film was being touted as Trainspotting shot in Canada with laughs. Trainspotting didn't cross my mind once during this film. I liked Trainspotting when it came out, but if there was one criticism you could make it was that the film took itself a little too seriously. Thankfully this film doesn't and is all the better for it. Everything about it feels fresh and you really get the feeling that everyone involved enjoyed making it. The acting has a nice improvised quality and script is a perfect mix of playful whimsy and taut storyline.

If you got out the wrong side of the bed, don't go and see this. If you're looking for an enjoyable and refreshing 90 minutes that restores your faith in low budget films, buy a ticket.