Awaiting Atwood

Filmmaker Beth Mairs takes a decidedly screw ball approach to the dire genre of adventure films. Poking fun at the cult of hero worship that pervades most adventure films, Mairs presents two lovable and flawed women who take the road less traveled from Sudbury to Toronto to meet their idol Margaret Atwood. The humour in this satirical adventure film is fearless, following tangents and bursts of imagination that had the audience roaring with laughter. As smart as it is funny, Mairs uses the Canadian landscape and the differences between urban and rural living to highlight some of the critiques of Canadian culture that Margaret Atwood herself posits in her work. The films flaws come from the exuberance of a first time filmmaker putting all their ideas in one film but it is so charming and original that much is forgiven and you laugh through the ride.

Awaiting Atwood is a lovely little film set in northern Ontario on a reverse sort of mid-life quest that takes the viewer in and out of the Canadian urban heart as well as the iconic landscape where Atwood's early novels are set. The story is a timely reminder for all those who have found themselves, their soul-mate, or the meaning of life in Canada through a northern woods experience involving a canoe that it is not over. The mid-life angst of the characters may appeal to those of us ready to re-surface, but there is enough humour, great scenery, and humility for persons of all ages to find something of themselves surfacing in this witty ode to our literary icon Margaret Atwood.

"Awaiting Atwood" was an absolutely hilarious film! The two fun loving characters jumped off the screen with their playful personalities and charisma. It was refreshing to see an interest in the wonderfully talented Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood play out in a film. I was excited that the film had two women lead roles that focused on meeting a famous Canadian writer that happens to be a woman.

The adventures of these two women were insanely crazy and off the wall, but it worked! I was engaged in the storyline the whole time, and as the film came to an end, I was disappointed because I wanted to see more.

I can't wait to see future films.

Laugh out loud funny from start to finish. The country rube played by Beth Mairs is genius (I couldn't get enough of her antics and expressions) and Betty Ann McPherson as her side kick had me holding my sides. I will always have fond memories of traveling Ontario roads and backwoods with this endearing pair of misguided adventurers. I am lucky enough to know most of the cast members in real life so I was a little worried about what my response to the film might be. Well I needn't have worried because I loved it! This crew of professionals put together a little gem of a film that should not be missed especially if you live in Ontario or you are any sort of a proud Canadian It is fun, fun and more fun. Congratulations everyone involved. Very well done!

Awaiting Atwood is a charming and hilarious adventure spoof. Writer, director and co-star Beth Mairs, is a wonderfully talented comic actor and is surrounded by great foils: including other actors and just regular folk she and co-star, Betty Ann MacPherson, meet on their funny and awkward journey from Northern Ontario to Toronto. The plot is simultaneously silly and engaging with lovely surprise ending.

Mairs may be a newcomer to comedy fiction but she has crafted a tight piece of cinema. In terms of production values Awaiting Atwood punches far above its weight class.

I didn't stop smiling for a long time after the credits rolled!