Wilby Wonderful
| Wilby Wonderful | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Daniel MacIvor |
| Produced by | Camelia Frieberg |
| Written by | Daniel MacIvor |
| Starring |
James Allodi Maury Chaykin Paul Gross Rebecca Jenkins Sandra Oh Ellen Page Callum Keith Rennie Daniel MacIvor |
| Music by | Michael Timmins |
| Cinematography | Rudolf Blahacek |
| Edited by | Mike Munn |
| Distributed by | Mongrel Media |
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Release date
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Running time
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99 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
Wilby Wonderful is a 2004 film by Daniel MacIvor. The film is a comedic drama 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 website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 7 reviews.
The small Canadian Maritimes island town of Wilby is preparing for its annual fair as a scandal threatens to rock its very foundation: the local newspaper is about to publish details and names of men caught during a police raid at Wilby Watch, a large undeveloped area on the island.
In the midst of it, Wilby's inhabitants attempt to maintain business as usual. Overbusy realtor Carol French is trying to sell the mayor her late mother-in-law’s house while supervising the festival, trying to achieve her social ambitions while painfully trying to avoid her husband's efforts to discuss their marriage. Her police officer husband, good-natured Buddy, investigating the rumors of gay sex and drugs at the Watch with his partner Stan, is distracted by his burgeoning love affair with former high school classmate Sandra Anderson. Sandra just got back to the island and re-opened a coffee shop, her bad reputation as a promiscuous woman a painful fact in her life. Sandra’s teenaged daughter Emily resentfully observes her mother's doings; she's hoping for a serious romance different from her mom's history, but her boyfriend may have more basic intentions. After his wife has left him in the wake of the pending gay scandal, the new-to-town depressive video store owner Dan Jarvis keeps trying to kill himself and Duck MacDonald, the town’s handyman, keeps interrupting his attempts. Duck remains stoic in front of the turmoil, seemingly the only one (silently) recognizing everyone else's dramas while himself persistently seeking Dan's company. And the town's mayor may be playing up the scandal in order to conclude a deal to turn the Watch into a golf course.
The scandal will force the characters to reevaluate their lives and come to terms with their own secrets and lies.
Wilby Wonderful was filmed from 21 July to 25 August 2003 in Shelburne, Nova Scotia. It was largely shot at a decommissioned Canadian Forces station, dubbed "Camp Wilby" by cast and crew. While Wilby is never explicitly located in the film, Daniel MacIvor has acknowledged its similarities to his birthplace of Cape Breton.
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