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WAYDOWNTOWN Send This Review to a Friend
Director Gary Burns shot satirical "Waydowntown' in Calgary, Canada, but it isn't meant to be a specific locale. It is intended to be a broader reminder of the environment in which many work these days, although this particular concept, scripted by Burns and James Martin, carries the worry to an extreme. The setting is a vast maze of interconnected office buildings, apartments and food courts. The gimmick is a bet to see who among a group of colleagues can go the longest without venturing outside the buildings and walkways--a bet which makes the participants literal prisoners with the need for ingenuity to stay indoors. The situation is a striking metaphor for the way in which so many people are constricted by jobs and the routines of life.
By the 24th day of the bet the characters are understandably edgy, each with various problems. Something has to give, and it would be a washout if people didn't learn something from the experience. The funniest challenge is that saddled on Marya Delver as Sandra, who has to keep tabs on her boss, a kleptomaniac who enjoys wandering about and stealing.
The trouble is that once we get the basic idea the complications and characters tend to grow monotonous. As clever as the film is, those under the microscope aren't particularly compelling as people with whom one might want to spend a lot of time.
Burns shot the story mostly on digital video, which enabled him to get more natural use of the locations. He later blew up the recorded material to 35mm, blended with the 35mm footage that he also shot. "Waydowntown" does achieve the effect of spontaneity and the requisite claustrophobia.
I saw the film long before New York's events of September 11, and at the time thought of all the people who worked in the World Trade Center with its shopping areas and walkways, and I related the characters in the film with those who functioned in such an environment. The points made in "Waydowntown" would be worth keeping in mind when the designers get to planning new buildings at Ground Zero. A Lot 47 release.
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