''Wilby Wonderful'' is a 2004

comedy-drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

directed by

Daniel MacIvor Daniel MacIvor (born July 23, 1962) is a Canadian actor, playwright, theatre director, and film director. He is probably best known for his acting roles in independent films and the sitcom '' Twitch City''. Personal MacIvor was born in Sydney, No ...

, and starring

James Allodi James Allodi (born February 26, 1967) is a Canadian actor, writer and director. Career James Allodi earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts, with a Major in Film, from New York University. Since then, the writer, director, and actor has amassed an impres ...

Maury Chaykin Maury Alan Chaykin (July 27, 1949 – July 27, 2010) was an American–Canadian actor, best known for his portrayal of detective Nero Wolfe, as well as for his work as a character actor in many films and television programs. Personal lif ...

Paul Gross Paul Michael Gross OC (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian actor, director, writer, producer, and musician born in Calgary, Alberta. Gross is known for his lead role as Constable Benton Fraser in the popular Canadian television series ''Due So ...

Rebecca Jenkins Rebecca Jenkins (born 1959) is a Canadian actress and singer. Acting She had starring roles in the 1990s CBC series '' Black Harbour'', and the films '' Bye Bye Blues'', '' Marion Bridge'', '' Wilby Wonderful'', ''Whole New Thing'', '' South o ...

Sandra Oh Sandra Miju Oh (born July 20, 1971) is a Canadian–American actress. She is best known for her starring roles as Rita Wu on the HBO comedy '' Arliss'' (1996–2002), Dr. Cristina Yang on the ABC medical drama series ''Grey's Anatomy'' (2005 ...

, Elliot Page,

Callum Keith Rennie Callum Keith Rennie (born 14 September 1960) is a British-born Canadian actor who started his career in Canadian film and television projects, where his portrayal of Stanley Raymond Kowalski on the television series '' Due South'' was his firs ...

, and

. ''Wilby Wonderful'' tells the story about 24 hours in the life of the small town of Wilby, where the municipal festival is in preparation. It focuses on the changes occurring in the lives of several different inhabitants as development comes to the island and threatens to change the world around them. The title comes from a sign created to promote the town; comically, it has been painted wrong, and says "Wilby Wonderful", as opposed to "Wonderful Wilby". ''Wilby Wonderful'' received a 71% rating from

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, based on 7 reviews.

Plot

In the small Canadian Maritimes island town of Wilby, Dan Jarvis (

), the town's video store owner, is preparing to kill himself by jumping off a bridge; however, the presence of the town's lovable

handyman A handyman, also known as a fixer, handyperson or handyworker, is a person skilled at a wide range of repairs, typically around the home. These tasks include trade skills, repair work, maintenance work, are both interior and exterior, and are so ...

, Walter "Duck" MacDonald (

), stops him from doing so. Dan's next three suicide attempts all kept on getting interrupted. His next attempt is to drown himself by stuffing rocks in his pocket at the shore of Wilby Watch, a large undeveloped area on the island, but is forced to leave when local reporters were there, interviewing local police Stan Lastman (

) about a police raid at the Wilby Watch. The local newspaper is planning to publish the names of the men caught during the raid. Dan then tries to give himself

carbon monoxide poisoning Carbon monoxide poisoning typically occurs from breathing in carbon monoxide (CO) at excessive levels. Symptoms are often described as " flu-like" and commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Large ...

by stuffing his head into a turned-on oven, but this was also interrupted, this time by Carol French (

), the realtor trying to sell the house. Finally, Dan prepares to hang himself but is forced to stop when he is caught by Jennie (Devon Chisolm), the maid of the motel he was staying. Elsewhere, Buddy (

), Carol's husband and Stan's police partner, struggles with discussing his marriage to Carol, and his ongoing affair with Sandra Anderson (

), who is infamous in the town for her reputation as a promiscuous woman. Sandra's teenage daughter, Emily ( Elliot Page), quietly observes her mother's behavior, while hoping for a serious romance for herself, different from her mother's history, although she is dating Taylor (Caleb Langille), a boy whose intentions are a bit more basic than the romance Emily hopes for. Emily's no-nonsense and frank best friend, Mackenzie Fisher (Marcella Grimaux) is the daughter of the town's mayor, Brent (

), who is considering buying Buddy's mother's house (that Carol is selling). While at lunch with Carol's assistant Deena (Kathryn MacLellan), Sandra encounters a woman whose son she went out with in high school (at the same time that he was dating someone else). Duck has been trying to get hold of Dan's location all day, by visiting places he might be around, although it's not clear the nature of his intentions are. Dan himself finds that his estranged wife, Belle, has thrown out all of his possessions out of their once-shared home. Carol realizes the city's big banner on the bridge is written as "Wilby Wonderful" instead of the other way around, and after talking to Deena, confronts Duck about the mistake (several characters later hypothesize that Duck is dyslexic), but then Carol rambles on about her failing marriage. Buddy and Stan are investigating Wilby Watch when Stan finds five syringes; Buddy is skeptical about Stan's claim that the syringes must have been left there by drug addicts. Sandra brings Dan coffee he tried to purchase from her diner (which he left after a homophobic encounter) but she failed to crack through his walls. Sandra then goes to see Buddy and calls him affectionately, unaware that Duck is nearby, and ultimately, both decides to end the affair. Sandra, drunk, tries to force Emily to bring a condom with her on her date with Taylor that night, but Emily refuses, calling Sandra out for her promiscuous ways and vows to have a different romance life on her own. Buddy and Carol host Mayor Brent's family who visit their house, and Mackenzie revealed to Buddy that her father has been trying to play up the scandal and turn the Wilby Watch into a golf course. Sandra leaves the pack early to prepare Buddy's mother's house for the mayor's visit, and Buddy leaves soon after, returning to inspect the Wilby Watch. Duck, who waited well into the night in front of the motel Dan is staying, is finally able to meet up and talk to him. Duck sets the tone of their conversation to be more and more intimate as it goes, and Dan, who is distant at first, opens up to him, eventually telling Duck his favorite genre of movie. Duck goes to kiss him, but Dan backs out. As Duck leaves, he notices that Emily and Taylor, who are on the same motel in a nearby room, are having a fight over him persistently trying to have sex with her. Duck shoos Taylor away, and calms a breaking down Emily. The two of them talk in Duck's truck, and then witness Dan leaving the area. Emily asks Duck if he wants to say hi to Dan, but Duck says he already tried that. Dan, trying his luck on killing himself one more time, sneaks into Buddy's mother's house and prepares to hang himself from the ceiling. However, he visibly has a change of heart halfway through, and smiles at the thought of Duck almost kissing him. However, as Dan tries to undone the rope around his neck, the chair he's standing on gives away, hanging him. Carol arrives at the house to prepare for the Mayor's family arrival at that moment, and after cutting the rope off, instead hides Dan's body under the stairs cupboard, hoping to hide him long enough until the Mayor and his family leaves. Mackenzie ends up finding Dan's body, and ambulance is called. At the Wilby Watch, Buddy finds that Stan is planting used insulin syringes as evidence. The next day, Sandra and Emily forgive each other for their previous drunken encounter. Buddy forces Mayor Brent to abandon his plans to turn the Wilby Watch into a golf course, and then takes steps towards mending his relationship with Carol. Duck brings flowers for Dan, who survived his suicide, at the hospital, and the movie ends with both men tenderly caressing each other.

Cast

as Dan Jarvis *

as Mayor Brent Fisher *

as Buddy French *

as Sandra Anderson *

as Carol French * Elliot Page as Emily Anderson *

as Duck MacDonald *

as Stan Lastman

Filming

''Wilby Wonderful'' was filmed from 21 July to 25 August 2003 in Shelburne,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. It was largely shot at a decommissioned Canadian Forces station, dubbed "Camp Wilby" by cast and crew.Wilby Wonderful Press Kit
/ref> While Wilby is never explicitly located in the film, Daniel MacIvor has acknowledged its similarities to his birthplace of

Cape Breton Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18. ...

. The original title was ''Honey'', and the town was named after that, but when a movie of the same name came out, Daniel MacIvor decided for ''Wilby'' instead, as a reference to hope and to the future.

Soundtrack

''Give me the chance to fall'' and ''Statement'', performed by

Gentleman Reg Reg Vermue is a Canadian indie rock singer from Guelph, Ontario. Born in Trenton, Ontario, he has recorded music under the stage names Gentleman Reg and Regina Gently. His musical style has been compared to Elliott Smith, Aimee Mann, The Smiths ...

''All about you'', performed by

Young Ideas ''Young Ideas'' is a 1943 American romantic comedy film directed by Jules Dassin and starring Susan Peters, Herbert Marshall and Mary Astor Mary Astor (born Lucile Vasconcellos Langhanke; May 3, 1906 – September 25, 1987) was an American ...

''What went wrong'' and ''Save me too'', performed by Scott B. Sympathy
''Shoelace easy'', performed by Stratochief
''Strangest dream'', performed and written by Kate Maki
''Something's coming'' performed and written by

''Measure me'', performed by Nathan
''A lighthearted lovesong'', performed by The Pets
''Find another fool'', performed by The Swiftys
''Tempest'', Piano Sonata No. 17 in D Major, Op. 31, No. 2, performed by Ethella Chuprik
''Whatever will be'', performed by Fiona Highet, Andrew Scott, and Patrick Pentland

Awards

Elliot Page won an Atlantic Canadian Award in 2004 at the

Atlantic Film Festival FIN: Atlantic International Film Festival (known as The Atlantic International Film Festival until 2017) is a major international film festival held annually in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada since 1980. FIN is the largest Canadian film festival ...

for Outstanding Performance by an Actor - Female. Rebecca Jenkins won a Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award in 2004 for Best Supporting Actress - Canadian Film. The film was nominated in 2005 for two

Genie Awards The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for scu ...

: Rebecca Jenkins's "Something's Coming" for Best Achievement in Music - Original Song, and Elliot Page for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role.

References

External links

* * *{{cite web , url=http://www.wilbywonderful.com/, title=''Wilby Wonderful'' site , accessdate=2009-12-30, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040414133631/http://www.wilbywonderful.com/, archive-date=2004-04-14
''Wilby Wonderful'' Review at tribute.ca
2004 films Films set in the Maritimes 2000s English-language films 2004 drama films Films about suicide Canadian LGBT-related films Dyslexia in fiction Films shot in Nova Scotia LGBT-related drama films 2004 LGBT-related films 2000s Canadian films