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Imagine a bet if you
will to see who is the last among you who will venture outside and breath
fresh air and feel the sun on their face. Does it sound easy? I don't think it
would be even for the most dedicated of nerds like myself.
Waydowntown explores
that very topic, a bet that four coworkers take that they cannot venture
outside at all and the last person to remain indoors wins their fellow
conspirators month's pay. A hell of a proposition to say the least. Our stars
in this feature are up to day 24 and the tensions are beginning to show.
Our main character is
Tom who is played by the talented young actor Fabrizio Filippo. Tom is a
trainee in the building and is caught up with the idea that Calgary's Central
Business District is being protected by a caped superhero and is pretty much
over his job, although he's onl been there for five months. Our other main
player is Sandra who is convinced that she is going crazy breathing in the
recirculated air (an idea put into her head by Tom).
The entire city is
interlinked with walkways and tunnels and the characters can literally make
their way from their apartments to work without taking a step outside. It's
the way that this has a profound affect on the psyche that is explored with
the whole shebang coming to a crashing halt during the course of the lunch
hour of day 24.
I can't recommend this
flick highly enough with a tightly written script and some great acting by
young and upcoming actors. Make sure you get it on your next trip to the DVD
shop for something truly unique and different. The disc is shown in
full frame 4:3 original ratio with an oversaturated effect used throughout the
picture that really makes the complex in Calgary seem to close in on you and
is exactly the way I would imagine you'd feel after being indoors for 24 days,
looking through windows at the world that you had chosen not to enter. 2.0 Dolby Digital was
used for the feature and I really felt that it would have been even better to
utilise a 5.1 mix to enhance the feeling that things are just a little
too much for the participants of the bet. The soundtrack however
is crystal clear and a pleasure to listen to.
There are a number of interviews here that really do little to explain much
about the film. They almost seem an afterthought to the main feature itself
and no great insights are given. Also tacked onto the extras are a look behind
the scenes at what happens when a sequence is filmed. There is no accompanying
audio, you just get a look over the shoulder at the process.
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