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★★☆☆☆
22 June 2017
A movie review of WEIRDOS.Seen at Canada Now 2017. For more information, click here.
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“I wish you didn’t care,” Alice (Julia Sarah Stone)
Making a period film on a budget is no easy thing. Recreating the past is arguably even more difficult than envisioning the future; there are footage/photographs/paintings to measure against. The recent past even more so. Nova Scotia, Canada, July 1976, WEIRDOS is shot in black and white – evoking the (imagined) past, it works thanks to the skill of cinematographer Becky Parsons. It is a shame then, that she and the cast are let-down by tedious dialogue and storytelling. WEIRDOS is a coming of age road trip barely holding the attention.
Making a period film on a budget is no easy thing. Recreating the past is arguably even more difficult than envisioning the future; there are footage/photographs/paintings to measure against. The recent past even more so. Nova Scotia, Canada, July 1976, WEIRDOS is shot in black and white – evoking the (imagined) past, it works thanks to the skill of cinematographer Becky Parsons. It is a shame then, that she and the cast are let-down by tedious dialogue and storytelling. WEIRDOS is a coming of age road trip barely holding the attention.
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Director Bruce McDonald has the ability to use little production money and tie it to a concept that means the small purse available is utilised to not matter, see for example horror movies PONTYPOOL (2008) and HELIONS (2015). However, those two films do not fulfil the potential of their intriguing premises. Three films for three, which one has watched, McDonald has churned out disappointing work. WEIRDOS is set on the open road and different locations, so scope matters here and is not delivered upon.
Fifteen year olds Kit (Dylan Authors) and girlfriend Alice (Julia Sarah Stone) decide to sneak away from their families to visit the former’s estranged mother, Laura (Molly Parker). You know when a movie has gone off the rails when the always commanding Parker delivers a cringe performance. DEADWOOD, HOUSE OF CARDS, SMALL CRIMES, etc. this is the first time one has witnessed her stumble. Parker’s skill comes through though, in meatier moments, transcending the material.
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Unfortunate comparisons are made to Wes Anderson’s wonderful THE DARJEELING LIMITED – a journey to see an absentee parent. We can guess the outcome with WEIRDOS. So much of the material feels laboured or trite or awkward. An indulgent touch, which surprisingly works, is Kit talking to his invisible friend, a guy playing Andy Warhol (Rhys Bevan-John). More movies should evince this level of imagination. At the same time as these mildly eventful couple of days are background broadcasts of the American bicentennial. There is an attempt at political commentary with the appearance of Laura’s Cambodian landlord, Mr Po (V. Tang). The observation is brief and tangential. Is it meant to be a contrast to the seeming idyll of Canada?
Unusually, and in quite an uplifting way, just about every character is kind. Why then does a player have to articulate out loud the clear-cut sentiment of the story, “We’re all weirdos. That’s what makes us beautiful”? Not trusting your audience to understand your message is a cinema no-no for those who enjoy discovering meaning for themselves. Being comfortable in your skin is a holy grail of existence and so few films articulate it (wish fulfilment is often unhelpfully the norm). WEIRDOS surrounds this lovely idea with too much inanity.
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