Wilby Wonderful

What a little Life-Affirming gem this is; if it does nothing else, it leaves you with Hope. Performances are everything in a film of this nature....and, here, not one of them lets you down. These guys and gals 'put out' for us what the multi-millionaire, cookie-cutter stars of Hollywood quite often do not. So, just a comment or two concerning them and/or their characterizations:

= Sandra Oh---Gee whiz, where has she dropped out of? If you're a fan of hers from TV's "Grey's Anatomy," you ain't seen nothing yet. Till you see her here, that is. Can there be any wonder why she won a 2006 Golden Globe award?

= Paul Gross---Playing the 'almost' disillusioned husband and the oh-so-wise town policeman, he sneaks in under our radar and becomes 1 of 2 main axles keeping the town of Wilby rolling along. He's, simply, one of those types with a mission to do the right thing.

= Rebecca Jenkins & Ellen Page---Being mother and daughter, they bring us right into and under their skins (what tremendous performances).

= James Allodi---As one of "life's saddest", he gives us 2 instants on film when we see appear, in the lifeless eyes of a benumbed man undergoing both marriage breakup and devastating lifestyle change, 2 sparks of "Realization" (the first instant being a scarily breathtaking moment for us; the second a joyous one---you'll easily recognize them both).

= Callum Keith Rennie---If Allodi's 'Dan' is the one begging redemption in this movie (its "Life-Loss" so to speak), then Rennie is its "Life Spark." Aside from the town policeman, no other is as sensitive to everyone else and their needs as is 'Duck MacDonald' (to be stable, a vehicle needs at least 2 axles; Duck is this town's other). He is amazing in his perceptiveness...his caring...his persistence in landing who he knows to be the "love of his life." Showing my partiality (and preferences, I guess) I only wish that every film of a lighter, romantic nature (containing gay aspects, or not), had a Callum Keith Rennie.

Lastly, what Great and Uplifting closing moments we have been given: ...The Depth of Feeling and the Emotional Intensity reached in the final scene's pairing is palpable, almost overwhelming....perfectly capping a little--but monumental--film belonging in every movie lover's collection.

PS: In its release year, if any film would have been worthy of consideration for one of the several "Best Ensemble Acting" awards, this film certainly should have been foremost (I didn't find the multi-cast acting in the recently awarded "Crash" to be of any higher caliber).

PPS: You may learn more about this film by visiting its releaser: filmmovement.com

The best thing this has going for it is the mood. The quiet evocation of a small island/town is pretty much dead on, with the slightly shabby businesses, people with small-scale ambitions, and hidden strings connecting everyone and everything. There are also some excellent performances, especially Sandra Oh, Rebecca Jenkins, and Callum Keith Rennie (for once showing his awkward, charming side rather than playing another psychopath).

There's both too much and too little going on, if that's possible. The various plot threads wander around before finally getting to what turns out to be the main plot. By that time, there have been a few too many scenes of people walking around while the soundtrack music plays. Some of the characters take too long to register, as well. The one who might be the most important, Dan Jarvis (the suicidal, soon-to-be-outed video store owner), never really registers at all--he never amounts to much of anything besides vague melancholy.

I don't blame the actors, really.....the ones we don't know well enough simply haven't had enough dialogue to let us know them. Fewer subplots and a little less wistful scenery montage would have helped the through-line considerably.

Put most simply, this has too much atmosphere to be a Plot Film and too much plot to be an Atmosphere Film. Not that it would ever have a chance to happen, but I think Wilby would have worked much better as a series.

WILBY WONDERFUL is an enjoyable and quirky film--the sort Independent film lovers will love and most others will find not particularly compelling. That's because the traditional style of film making is definitely NOT what you see here and the film is extremely hard to characterize. This doesn't bother me, as I see it as a nice "slice of life" film but some may balk because it really isn't a comedy, romance or drama--though it definitely has elements of all three genres.

Wilby Island is a small resort town near Nova Scotia. The film concerns just a few residents and their struggles. While all these characters are seriously flawed, you tend to like most of them as beneath all their crazy baggage, there are shreds of decency. Some of the struggles involve a work-a-holic woman and her forgotten husband, a gay man struggling with self hatred and a trampy single mother whose daughter is struggling with either continuing or breaking the cycle of early pregnancy and desperation.

I think all these story elements work well due to the gentleness of the film. The stories unfold slowly and with a touch of humor--helping to pull the viewer into a story that isn't filled with great excitement or action. As a result, the acting, writing and direction all are given a chance to stand out and be noticed! The only failing, and this may not bother everyone, is the music. The opening song is catchy but the voice is seriously grating. Also, several times during the film, they have little music video montages. A few films have done this in recent years and I suppose it is "hip" but to me it just looks sloppy and distracting. It really disrupted the flow and seemed like filler. Still, this isn't a big problem and the film's many positives greatly outweigh this--making this a film worth seeing if you are looking for some sort of alternative entertainment and not the typical Hollywood fare.

What an enjoyable movie. Saw it at the Stony Brook Film Festival and was disappointed to hear it has gone straight to video. With so much crap out there, there is surely a place for a movie like this. Unfortunately, there are no special effects, or in your face sex and violence. The story makes sense, the loose ends are tied up and the characters are real. In fact, one of the few known faces, to me, was Sandra Oh and she was nearly a distraction, because she is so familiar. Everyone else seemed more real. This movie was made by the same guy who made "Marion Bridge" another Canadian movie set in Cape Breton and starring, if that's the right word, the delightful Molly Parker. Bravo John McIvor and everyone involved in this thoroughly entertaining movie. You'd have been pleased at the ovation at the end of the screening.

This movie was on a local cable channel, and I was very pleasantly surprised by it. It's called a comedy, but I see it more as a "slice of life" movie. Not really a drama, not really a comedy, but a wonderful movie that really hooked me into the characters. The story was great (and way too many movies have cruddy scripts and story lines). I, too, found that no one character got the main focus of the story and yet I wasn't hoping to find out more from everyone. What I got was just enough. The people were real, smart, and the interactions were very true to life. The only thing I would do is make the movie a bit longer (just because I liked everyone's story so much) If you get a chance to see this movie, see it. It's well worth the time.