Waydowntown

{{Infobox film | name = waydowntown | italic_title = no | image = Waydowntown-movie-poster.jpg | writer = Gary Burns James Martin | starring = {{Plainlist | * Fabrizio Filippo * Marya Delver * Gordon Currie * Tobias Godson * Tammy Isbell * Jennifer Clement * James McBurney * Don McKellar}} | cinematography = Patrick McLaughlin | editing = Mark Lemmon | music = John Abram | director = Gary Burns | producer = Gary Burns Shirley Vercruysse | distributor = '''United States:''' HomeVision Lot 47 Films '''Canada:''' Odeon Films Alliance Atlantis CTV Telefilm Canada '''Australia:''' Madman Entertainment | released = {{Film date|2000|09|10}} | runtime = 87 minutes | language = English | budget = $700,000 CAD (estimated)

}} {{Lowercase title|italic=yes}} '''''Waydowntown''''' (stylized as '''''waydowntown''''') is a 2000 Canadian film directed by Gary Burns and starring Fab Filippo, Don McKellar, Marya Delver and Michelle Beaudoin. The film is a dark comedy that explores office culture and its effects and often uses surrealism to achieve its thematic goals.

The film is set in Calgary, Alberta, where many downtown buildings are connected by the Plus 15, an extensive network of indoor skywalks. Because of this network, the hustle and bustle of the traditional "main street" has been replaced by recirculated air, food courts, and fluorescent lights. The result is a bleak and often humorous dark comedy about Canadian corporate culture.

== Plot == The film centres on a group of office colleagues in downtown Calgary, Alberta, who bet a month's salary on who can last the longest without going outside by using the system of covered walkways that connect the buildings. The film takes place over one lunch hour on day 24 of the month-long competition. Things start to become complicated as the office prepares for the company founder's retirement party.

The film's title is derived from a particular form of suicide where one smashes the (non-openable) window of one's high-rise office and then jumps through. In the movie, one of the characters has accumulated a 2-litre pop bottle full of marbles in the hopes of breaking his window. The dark joke for this is referenced in the film : "a 15 bus takes you downtown, [but] a bottle of marbles takes you way downtown."

==Cast== *Fab Filippo as Tom Bennett *Don McKellar as Brad *Marya Delver as Sandra West *Gordon Currie as Curt Schwin *Jennifer Clement as Vicki *Tammy Isbell as Kathy *Tobias Godson as Randy *James McBurney as Phil

==Production== The majority of the film was shot in TD Square, the Calgary Eaton Centre, and Bankers Hall. The company's offices are situated in the TD Canada Trust Tower. The low-budget film was shot digitally and later transferred to 35 mm.

==Reception== The film has a 70% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Most critics praise the satirical elements, casting, and plot. Others find the film to be humourless and incomplete, and the plot to be too nonsensical and uninteresting.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Waydowntown |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/waydowntown |website=Rotten Tomatoes}}</ref> The film won the Best Canadian Film Award prize at the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Great Canadian Film Directors |publisher=University of Alberta |year=2007 |isbn=9780888644794 |editor-last=Melnyk |editor-first=George |pages=374}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Goodridge |first=Mike |date=September 18, 2000 |title=waydowntown, Crouching Tiger top Toronto prizes |url=https://www.screendaily.com/waydowntown-crouching-tiger-top-toronto-prizes/403636.article |access-date=20 September 2022 |website=Screen Daily |language=en}}</ref>

In 2001, an industry poll conducted by ''Playback'' named it the 10th best Canadian film of the preceding 15 years.<ref>Michael Posner, "Egoyan tops film poll". ''The Globe and Mail'', November 25, 2001.</ref>

The film was shown at the Calgary International Film Festival on September 19, 2019, to celebrate its 20th anniversary.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Waydowntown |url=https://www.calgaryfilm.com/films/2019/waydowntown/ |access-date=November 14, 2019 |website=Calgary International Film Festival}}</ref>

In 2023, Barry Hertz of ''The Globe and Mail'' named the film as one of the 23 best Canadian comedy films ever made.<ref>Barry Hertz, [https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/article-best-canadian-comedies/ "The 23 best Canadian comedies ever made"]. ''The Globe and Mail'', June 28, 2023.</ref>

In 2025, in celebration of the film's 25th anniversary, the film was shown at Revue Cinema in Toronto as part of the 11th annual National Canadian Film Day.<ref>{{Cite web |title= Revue Cinema presents waydowntown |url=https://canfilmday.ca/event/revue-cinema-presents-waydowntown/ |access-date=20 September 2022 |website=National Canadian Film Day |language=en-US}}</ref>

== See also ==

* ''Office Space''

==References== {{Reflist}}

== External links == *''[https://web.archive.org/web/20091112074629/http://waydowntown.com:80/ Waydowntown]'' website * {{IMDb title|id=0219405|title=Waydowntown}} * {{rotten-tomatoes|id=waydowntown|title=waydowntown}} *AV Club [https://www.avclub.com/waydowntown-1798192474 DVD Review]

Category:2000 films Category:2000s business films Category:English-language Canadian films Category:Canadian black comedy films Category:Films directed by Gary Burns Category:Films set in Calgary Category:Films shot in Calgary Category:Canadian satirical films Category:2000 black comedy films Category:2000 English-language films Category:2000 Canadian films Category:Canadian independent films Category:2000 independent films Category:English-language black comedy films Category:English-language independent films