Waydowntown is an interesting movie. It has the
same sort of "quit your job, be redeemed, or at
least be happier" idea behind it as Office
Space, American Beauty, and Clerks. It was
shot in Calgary, the city in which I live, and
is actually set in this city for once (lots of
movies are shot here, but are set in American
cities). The basic story revolves around four
young office workers who make a bet, which is that
the person who stays inside the longest wins. It's
day 24.
Apparently there are other Canadian cities like
Calgary, where much of the downtown core is
connected by enclosed pedestrian bridges. In
Calgary, this system is called the +15 (because
it's fifteen feet off the ground), and the +15 is
what makes the premise of the movie possible. Since
the four characters involved in the bet all live
and work in buildings in the downtown core, they
can use the +15 system to stay inside all the
time.
The film really isn't so much about the bet as
it is about one character's personal growth over
the course of about one lunch hour. The bet seems
like a device which is used to accelerate the
character's growth, by forcing him into situations
where he must make decisions which he begins to
regret, decisions that make him question his morals
and motivations.
Aside from the bet, a number of other wacky
devices are used to illustrate the mental state of
the characters. In particular, the characters seem
to wear a lot of different colored shirts, which
annoyed me at the time because the whole movie is
supposed to take place within the space of a
day. But I later realized that this was probably
intended to convey some information about how the
character is feeling. Other things that don't make
sense in a the literal world are the superhero
sightings experience by the protagonist, the large
weird fish like thing that he imagines to be
devouring his leg, and the swimming along the
+15's.
I think the superhero sightings are intended to
represent the salvation the protagonist is
seeking. He doesn't really like the world he is
working in, and is starting to see all the things
within himself he doesn't like. The very last
sequence of the movie is the superhero catching
someone who is committing suicide by jumping out
of an office window; since the character has quite
his job and feels good about it, he is seeing his own
salvation.
Anyway, it's a pretty good movie, so I would
recommend it to anybody who enjoys a good
independent flick.