Wilby Wonderful
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Canada
Movie Reviews of Wilby Wonderful
Movie Review: Sandra Oh is the Comic Relief!
Summary: 4 Stars
Wilby Wonderful is a charming comedy about the lives of 6 people transformed in the course of a day in a small Canadian Town called Wilby. It has three stories interwined together making this film a funny, thought-provoking, heartfelt, and wonderful experience. It deals with love, family, homophobia, and relationship. A lot can happen in one day even in a small town like Wilby.
Dan Jarvis(James Allodi) is a video store owner, and his wife just abandoned him, because he's been a closeted gay man.Not able to deal with his coming our issues, he's depressed and suicidal. His house is up for sale, and Carol French(Sandra Oh), a realtor is busy trying to polish it up for resale after taking over it. She is very ambitious and a total perfectionist that she basically ignored the emotional and sexual need of her husband Buddy(Paul Gross) who is cop. She gets very aggravated when the handy-man Buck(Callum Keith Rennie) accidentally made the sign Wilby Wonderful instead Wonderful Wilby. Buck is openly gay, and he had an instant crush on Dan.
Meanwhile, Buddy is frustrated by her unavailable wife, and seeks possible good times with his high school old flame Sandra Anderson(Rebecca Jenkins) who is now a single mother with a teenaged daughter(Emily/Ellen Page). Emily is a rebellious case, and she's being manipulated by a boy for sexual favors. Sandra has feelings for Buddy, but knows he's unattainable.
More dramas and surprises take place and things all unexpectedly improved for these six people despite the chaos they had to endured.
All six leads are superb in their performances. The mother and daughter relationship was very touching and Rebecca Jenkins was perfect for the role of an unhappy single mother. The development of the relationship between Dan and Buck was underwritten, but it was a wonderful and subtle treatment that was kind of romantic. Carol and Buddy had gone from not looking like a married couple at first to finally reconnected and realized the importance of their marriage. Overall, it was Sandra Oh who was most striking, because she's so uptight, funny, and she generated most of the laughs in the second half of the film. It's so nice to see her star in a Canadian film again since she crossed over to Hollywood.
Movie Review: Charming, thoughtful Canadian dramedy
Summary: 4 Stars
"Wilby Wonderful" is a typically charming Canadian film, an engaging ensemble piece about a small, isolated rural town standing in the path of modern development. The writing is human and warm (even while dealing with sad subjects...) and the acting is a delight. Indeed, fans of film and TV will be wowed by the cast, which includes several now-famous Canadian actors. I was drawn to the film by lead actor Paul Gross (who I was floored by in "Slings And Arrows"), but was also pleased to see Sandra Oh (currently on TV's "Grey's Anatomy") Ellen Page ("Juno") and Callum Keith Rennie (one of the Cylons in the revamped "Battlestar Gallactica," in a surprisingly sympathetic role.)
If you like films that are about more than car chases, bank heists, wars, etc. -- quiet, human-scale films that use the acting talents of their casts in ways that are unusual and revelatory -- then check this one out... Not the greatest art film ever, but still quite nice. (Joe Sixpack, Slipcue film reviews)
Movie Review: You don't have to live on an island to be insular, but it helps
Summary: 4 Stars
This quiet film perfectly captured for me the essence of living in a small community where people still care about who your parents were and what you did in high school long after the glory of prom night has passed, and where political corruption can be truly small and petty and yet still ruin people's lives. It's a surprisingly sweet film considering the dark nature of the central plot. An excellent ensemble cast practicing some fine, tightly controlled acting, makes it enjoyable to watch as events in the small town pass through a possible crisis. I'm just happy I don't have to live somewhere like that (ever again.)Movie Review: Needs a Re-write
Summary: 2 Stars
I am considering joining Film Movement in spite of this movie. Sandra Oh and Ellen Page carry this film. The other actors are pretty-face middle aged with marginal talent. I doubt they are the best Canada has to offer. The young woman who played Ellen Page's school friend is a better actor than any of the adults, except Oh. The dialogue needs improvement. Sample of the cop's lines: Oh, yeah?...Really?... Why's that? The story is interesting, but the writing, directing, and editing are weak. An independent movie does not have to have these problems. I hope the film maker's other films are better.Movie Review: Rambling, unfocused, boring. ...."Enough!" he cried
Summary: 1 Stars
I managed to sit through 1 hour of this non-story story. Who are the people who find this stuff so terrific? I watched this free online and am happy I spent zero dollars on it...A very few humorous moments early on with the suicide guy, but after that there was nothing whatsoever pleasant or uplifting, and compounded by the s-l-o-o-o-w-e-s-t moving "plot" imaginable. Call me a grump but I was hoping for a real story here. You know, with a beginning, middle and an end. Just couldn't take wasting my time on the "end" part. If there was one, let me know how it turned out. These characters were simply excruciatingly BORING in my opinion. Stilted dialogue, plotless plot, and except for maybe the cop, all were unsympathetic small-town sterotypes. I simply lost patience that this movie ever would develop a clear direction or have a point to make. Is this Canadian 'comedy', or 'art', or 'drama'? It sure was a mystery to me.