Truly Dreadful Film

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Gripping story with well-crafted characters

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

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.

I disagree with the last comment about this movie - i just finished watching waydowntown. Not only did the choppy camera work enhance the atmosphere of the film - partnered with the choppy dialect - the director has created a powerful insight to the characters we see on the screen. The characters were witty, even though a lot of the time they seem to be all 'connected' as an entity - they also seem very disconnected. The script is neat - it allows the audience to see how disconnected everyone is - in the characters conversation, 'dreamstate' etc. All in all - i thought the movie was intense - and goes beyond dialect - characters were truthful and intimate.However i didn't understand some of the 'intentional' continuity errors. *shrugs*

I saw this movie in my grade 10 English class and thought it was awesome! I loved the characters quirky character flaws and thought it had the perfect mixture of suspense and grotesque thrills. I also got to meet the film maker Gary Burns when he came to visit my English and Broadcasting classes and I must say that he is SO nice and gave us all some insight to the world of film making and writing.I think Gary Burns' style is very unique and interesting because of everything he puts into his characters. They seem real, like they could be the person next to you on the bus heading downtown. Another Gary Burns film I've seen is Kitchen Party, which, while different, has the same charming effect that Waydowntown brought to the film world.

I bought this movie for $ 0.99 in the bargain bin at Blockbuster. (At that price, the only thing a guy can waste on a movie such as this is the time it takes to watch it.) It was not a waste of time. It is kind of an odd movie. It seems to be struggling to be some kind of "arty" film, but doesn't really succeed that well. It is kind of rough around the edges, but I like seeing unfamiliar actors do their thing. Some pretty funny parts in amongst the wierdness. I do not regret buying this movie for a dollar and will probably watch it at least one more time.