ametaphysicalshark I've sold many movie tickets to Gary Burns, but had never seen one of his films. Since I finally watched Mike Judge's "Office Space" this morning I figured I should probably watch the other, far lesser-known but very popular (locally, at least) comedy from around the same time centered on the banality of office life, Burns' "Waydowntown". Where Judge focused on easy targets like the annoying office printer and caricatures like office weirdo Milton, Burns is focused on sardonic, surreal comedy, and broadens the scope away from just the banality of office life and onto the suffocating effect of skywalk systems and life inside giant malls are having on our society.Indeed, "Waydowntown" is very clearly a commentary on how the +15 system (the world's most expensive pedestrian skywalk system, stretching over 16km in the downtown core) has affected street life in Calgary, or rather suffocated it. While this all means very little to non-Calgarians, or really to anyone who lives in a city without an extensive skywalk system, the film makes very few specific references to Calgary and most of the comedy is still based in the banal nature of the modern office workplace, so accessibility is not an issue and Burns is not self-indulgent in his commentary on Calgary, with the film still focusing for the most part on plot and humor.As previously mentioned, the humor here is occasionally of a broad slapstick nature (and those jokes, including the replacement of computer mouses with an actual dead mouse generally work), but is mostly of a very dark satirical nature, tapping into the petty grievances and mind games of office culture with real realism, which helps ground the lead character's flights of fancy and superhero obsession in reality and keep the film's more surreal moments from feeling like they belong in another film. The plot, with four office workers participating in a bet to stay indoors, using the +15 system to shop, eat, clothe themselves, and sleep as well as work, for as long as possible is very well-executed. It never overtakes the character moments or the generally mundane, claustrophobic atmosphere as the main focus of the film, but keeps the narrative momentum going throughout. The film has been compared to "Office Space" quite frequently (and no, "Waydowntown" is not even close to being a ripoff, it was written well before "Office Space" was released and was filmed not long after "Office Space" wrapped filming, I believe), but aside from the basic idea of suffocated office employees going a little insane the movies aren't very similar at all, with "Waydowntown" being much darker and more surreal, and far more poignant and clever as well in my estimation.The cast are really terrific and while I initially found Burns' direction and the cinematography to be jarring and a bit annoying, I eventually grew to like the style a lot, which considering it was a digital-to-film transfer at the time (1999 when the film was shot or early 2000), it looks really terrific overall, and while all the jump cuts overdid things a bit the claustrophobic, suffocating air Burns was going for was ultimately accomplished. There are a lot of nice touches in the film, visual commentary on the nature of the characters and their lives, ranging from the extremely obvious (the main character has an ant farm on his desk), to subtler, like the constantly changing attire of most of the characters. It was nice to finally see a Gary Burns film, and while "Waydowntown" is perhaps not absolutely perfect it is a very unique and special workplace comedy, one with a lot of imagination and a lot of great, different humor. For all those whining about Canadian film not being accessible to foreigners, here's one which I can see anybody who has been in this sort of atmosphere understanding and enjoying, even if they don't quite understand the nature of the +15 in Calgary and how one can literally live inside breathing recycled air for their entire lifetime if their apartment is in the downtown core. A great, smart film and one I suspect I will be watching over and over and over.

jaredmobarak Waydowntown is Calgary, Alberta's Gary Burns' satiric look on the office workplace. While a film like Mike Judge's Office Space goes for the laughs and absurdity of the daily grind, Burns gives us something more palpable with his take. We are looking in on a group of corporate ants roaming through their cage, seemingly free in their small existences. This film is a sociology project showing relationships between people and how their environments affect not only themselves, but also those they interact with. However, it is a cynical, comedic look on a workday of four young adults trying to get through another eight hours of essentially the same activities they completed each day previous.Our story is centered on a bet between the four main characters. In Calgary, there is a cityscape that was built to connect together. With enclosed walkways and tunnels, each mall, office complex, and apartment building is linked so that one could conceivably go through his/her life never going outdoors. Because of this, our protagonists have each bet a month's salary to see who can stay inside the longest. We enter into the story on day 24, where each lets the pressure finally crack through. Between sexual repression, the breathing of recirculated air from the vents over and over again, and the utter monotony of their jobs, each goes a little bit nuts as they try to drive forward to win the prize.Fab Filippo plays our lead Tom. He smokes a joint before work to cut the edge off of his straying mind and heads up to his desk. The stress has caused him to see things of late that just aren't there. Floating through the promenades he tries to get under the skin of his follow bet takers by playing to their weaknesses. Filippo plays the role nicely as he has the charisma of the kind of guy everyone likes to hang with, but always gets a jab in and never misses the opportunity to belittle someone. He narrates the story with well-written voice-over observations about superheroes taking their little connected city into the sky and on whether the dead-end life he is leading has made him cold and ambivalent to the world he cohabits with humanity. Marya Delver delivers as the lone female bet taker whose throat slowly closes subconsciously as the day progresses from the "dirty" air that keeps going through her. Among many hilarious moments are her spinning the front doors fast to get the influx of "pure" air into her system and her use of a magazine perfume sample to keep her from passing out. Also, giving a pitch-perfect performance is Don McKellar as Bradley. His droning voice and fed-up with life attitude oozes out as he has finally snapped, after two decades of the same work everyday. The deadpan expressions are great as he starts to staple words of encouragement to his chest.Besides these quirky characters and their activities of the day, which we follow for the duration, we are shown funny vignettes on society. For example, there is the discussion on the unwritten rule of getting out of another person's way when walking towards each other. The security guard realizes that these men in suits just don't abide by the rules and continue walking no matter the obstacle. He finally decides to hold his ground and gets knocked over for the trouble by a straight-faced extra oblivious to the other people around him. Waydowntown is a world of self-absorbed drones who've become lifeless and uncaring by a society which has confined them to created controllable order. Watching the cast of eccentrics as they try and break through the sameness is fun intelligent humor. A blend of socially conscious commentary and laugh-out-loud humor, Gary Burns has created a great film to help office workers everywhere crack a smile.

Charles Herold (cherold) I like the premise of this movie and some of it is amusing, but the jittery camera work and choppy editing felt like the work of an ambitious student filmmaker who wanted to show off his "technique." There is something to be said for telling a story simply. Compare this movie with Clockwatchers to see how the interesting script should have been handled. After a half hour I was getting dizzy and annoyed and just couldn't take it anymore. I did like what little I saw of Tammy Isbel's quirky performance, and I thought the opening stuff about the superhero was quite amusing, and there really was enough in this movie to keep me watching if not for the horrible direction and editing. But you need a stronger stomach than I have to sit through this.

Morgaine Swann I'm going to be honest. I saw Fab Filippo on Queer As Folk and wanted to check out some of his other work. Yeah, he's gorgeous, but that isn't the only thing I liked about this movie. It's so funny, and so well done that it has become one of my favorite indie films. If you've ever had to work in a cubicle and felt like a rat in a maze; if you've ever had co-workers you were sure would be starring in a hostage negotiation; If you've ever let someone continue to call you by the wrong name because it's just easier, WayDownTown is about YOU. The bet that these 4 co-workers have undertaken requires that they stay indoors for 24 days and counting. Their voluntary confinement combined with that all-too-familiar daily grind has resulted in a wicked sort of "mall buzz". Tom (played to absolute perfection by Filippo) carries the movie along with running narration that we hear as he tries to multi-task while stoned. He runs into an assortment of difficult people and to make matters worse, he's starting to hallucinate. The head trips he's pulled on the other 3 involved in the bet are taking full effect and we gradually watch them all come unglued in situations that are funny because of their familiarity. The movie does a great job of making one day run into the next, just like real life. What color is his tie? What color is her sweater? Wait wasn't he wearing a blue shirt? The colors in the movie are used to enhance the stifling artificiality of the office and the attached mall. You won't be able to resist trying to figure out who the Bradley in your office is...