Ill Fated

I gave this film a 9... and I've also given a 9 to The Godfather, Dr. Strangelove, Pulp Fiction etc. Ill Fated is not as good as the aforementioned films... however, after seeing the film I felt just as satisfied as after watching the others. I was just so delighted to see a Canadian film so bloody entertaining and simultaneously so very profound. I've never been witness to an audience so moved by a Canadian film in all my life (and I've seen many - too many - Canadian films). This film won't make 100 million at the box office, but like Donnie Darko or Reservoir Dogs, Clerks etc. will inevitably find a huge audience (slowly but surely). I expect big things from the talent behind this one.

I've read a couple reviews. One was good and seemed to get it but the other was terrible - and in my mind way off base. The reviewer took the drama way too seriously instead of enjoying the vibrancy of the film and how *beeped* up this guy's situation is. I thought the film was hilarious. And refreshing in how the filmmakers broke the mold of a typical Canadian film. I like Canadian films but this one was ballsy; took a hyper-real approach... which I think is great. Think Fellini in backwater Canada. Historically, critics have always had trouble appreciating films that deviate from realism. The reason for this I think is that they're... critiquing. When a film is expressed through impressions of ideas or feelings (from surrealism to absurdism), the aesthetic can only be experienced through, for lack of a better word, feeling. The greatest filmmakers have fallen victim to this pitfall (from Fellini to Powell/Pressburger, to Kubrick and Wes Anderson). But regardless, it's the test of time that proves the worth of little films like this. We'll have to wait and see.

Immediately reminiscent of Coen brother's "Fargo". Humorous and entertaining in a way that doesn't take the audience to be halfwits. John Parker's role as Grampy was inspired and his "meltdown" was hilarious. My personal favourite character was the sheriff. His constant frustration with the townspeople and his volunteers made for constant laughs. Finally a film that Canadians can be proud to call their own. Mark Lewis has set himself a very high standard. I hope he can continue to bring us great films up to par with his first.

I can only imagine that the positive comments listed here were left by the directors mother because this movie is something only she would love.

True, the cinematography is well done and the acting is passable for a Canadian feature, but the writing is unbearable. It falls into the trap of many other Canadian features by hiding lack of talent behind a string of unnecessary expletives. There wasn't a single conversation that was believable and the plot unrolled lack a mangled origami project. Add to this a cast of characters that are instantly forgettable and thoroughly unlikeable and you have a movie that you shouldn't have rented.

Ill Fated is a fitting title: Viewer beware.

Quirky and offbeat would be the best way to describe this story of a small town 19 year-old struggling to find his way in the midst of even smaller small town personalities.

Some of the characters in the rural setting are way over the top, but it works, as they're supposed to be embellished caricatures of hicks. The performances that stood out the most are that of the lead, Paul Campbell, known mostly for his work on the new Battlestar Galactica, his character's quirky grandfather played by John F. Parker, and in a very minor but memorable role the local police officer who spends much of the film completely flabbergasted at the stupidity of the local bunch to which he seemingly belongs.

This is a movie that definitely does not take itself too seriously, nor should the viewer.