Product Description

Wilby Wonderful is a bittersweet comedy about the difference a day makes. Over the course of twenty-four hours, the residents of the tiny island town of Wilby try to maintain business as usual in the face of very unusual business. Wilby Wonderful features a stellar ensemble of Canada's most talented performers: Sandra Oh, Ellen Page, Maury Chaykin, Paul Gross, Rebecca Jenkins and Callum Keith Rennie. Wilby Wonderful is a gentle, intimate story of hope and the importance of believing that we live in a world of creation, not destruction in fact, we create that world by believing in it.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30066 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-01-01
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 99 minutes

About the Actor
Sandra Oh (born July 20, 1971) is a Golden Globe and Genie Award winning Canadian actress. She is primarily known for her role as Dr. Cristina Yang in the ABC series Grey's Anatomy. She also played notable roles in the feature films Under the Tuscan Sun and Sideways.
Ellen Page: Ellen Philpotts-Page (born February 21, 1987), known professionally as Ellen Page, is a Canadian actress. Page received both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for her role as the title character in the film Juno. She is also known for her starring roles in Hard Candy, Smart People, Whip It, and as Katherine "Kitty" Pryde in X-Men: The Last Stand. She also received attention in her native Canada for award-winning roles in Pit Pony, Wilby Wonderful and Marion Bridge, as well as television shows Trailer Park Boys and ReGenesis. In 2008, Page was nominated for Time's 100 Most Influential People listand placed #86 on FHM's Sexiest Women in the World list. In June 2008, Page was named to Entertainment Weekly's future A-List stars list.

About the Director
Daniel MacIvor is the co-writer and star of House directed by Laurie Lynd, and writer and star of the Genie Award winning musical short The Fairy Who Didn't Want To Be A Fairy Anymore, also directed by Lynd. His short films Permission and Until I Hear From You both premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and his short tapes Margaret Atwood and the Problem with Canada and Wake Up Jerk Off, have played to great acclaim internationally. As an actor he has appeared in Thom Fitzgerald's Beefcake, in Don McKellar's inventive CBC series Twitch City, and in Jeremy Podeswa's The Five Senses for which he was nominated for a Genie. With Producer Sherrie Johnson, Daniel is the artistic director of the international touring theatre company da da kamera, recently winning a Village Voice Obie Award for their New York production of MacIvor's play In On It. In addition to writing the feature film adaptation of his play Marion Bridge, MacIvor also recently directed his first feature, Past Perfect. As director, writer, and star MacIvor adds Wilby Wonderful to his already impressive list of film, television and theatrical credits.

Customer Reviews

WILBY is Truly Wonderful
Featuring an all-star Canadian cast, WILBY WONDERFUL is a warm ensemble comedy written and directed by the talented Daniel MacIvor. The small, island-town of Wilby is populated by islanders and off-islanders alike, but what all the characters share is a desire to love and be loved. Central to Wilby's difficulties is a scandal that threatens to tear the town apart. Details are scarce, but rumors are flying with the threat of public exposure hovering over the lives of two central characters in the film. Dan (James Allodi) repeatedly attempts to take his own life, but is constantly interrupted. Real estate agent Carol French (the delightful Sandra Oh) frantically prepares for a town-wide celebration while her relationship with her husband Buddy, a town cop (Paul Gross) grows stagnant. Buddy flirts with infidelity with Sandra (Rebecca Jenkins) whose attempts to resuscitate a local restaurant depends on her decision to stay or leave the town; a decision Sandra's daughter Emily (Ellen Page) frets about as she grows closer to a local boy whose motives for declaring his love for her grow suspect. WILBY WONDERFUL is a funny movie, filled with moments of gravity. MacIvor, whose first film was the emotional PAST PERFECT, directs with a light touch, allowing the ensemble of very strong performances shine. In this case, WILBY is truly wonderful.

Can anyone give me a roadmap to this town????

What a little life-affirming gem this is; if it does nothing else, it leaves you with hope. Performances are everything in a film of this nature........and, here, not one of them lets you down. These guys and gals 'put out' what the multi-millionaire, cookie-cutter stars of Hollywood quite often do not. So, just a comment or two concerning them and/or their characterizations:

==Sandra Oh---Gee whiz, where has she dropped out of? If you're a fan of hers from TV's "Grey's Anatomy" and think she's the greatest, you ain't seen nothing yet (til you see her here........can there be any wonder why she won a 2006 Golden Globe award?).

==Paul Gross---Playing the 'almost' disillusioned husband and the oh-so-wise town policeman, he sneaks in under our radar and becomes 1 of the main axles of the town of Wilby. He's one of those types we all know who "keeps things running," someone with a mission to do the right thing.

==Rebecca Jenkins & Ellen Page---Being mother and daughter, they bring us into their skins (what tremendous performances).

==James Allodi---As 'one of life's saddest,' he gives us two instants on film when, in the lifeless eyes of a benumbed man undergoing both marriage breakup and devastating lifestyle change, we see appear a "spark" (the first a scarily breathtaking moment for us; the second a joyous one---you'll easily recognize them both).

==Callum Keith Rennie---If Allodi's Dan is the one begging redemption in this movie (its "life-loss" so to speak), then Rennie is its "life spark." Aside from the town policeman, no other is as sensitive to everyone else and their needs as is Duck MacDonald (to be stable, a vehicle needs at least 2 axles; Duck is this town's other). He is amazing in his perceptiveness, his caring, his persistence in landing who he knows to be the "love of his life." Showing my partiality (and preferences, I guess) I must say I only wish that every film of a lighter, romantic nature (containing gay aspects, or not), had a Callum Keith Rennie.

Lastly, what great and uplifting closing moments we've been given: the depth of feeling and the emotional intensity reached in the final scene's pairing is palpable, almost overwhelming........perfectly capping a little---but monumental---film belonging in every movie lover's collection.

PS: In its release year, if any film would have been worthy of consideration for one of the several "Best Ensemble Acting" awards, this film certainly should have been foremost (I can't believe the multi-cast acting in the recently awarded "Crash" could be of any higher caliber).

Top Drawer
"Wilby Wonderful" is a delightful gem I encountered through the Magnolia Arts Center. This Canadian film was directed by Daniel MacIvor who plays the little role of Stan, a cop that keeps trying to plant drug paraphernalia on a pristine beach to further a plot hatched by the mayor to turn it into a golf course. Unfortunately, Stan doesn't know the difference between an unused insulin needle and a heroin addict's discard. James Allodi who starred this year with Carrie-Anne Moss & Signorey Weaver in "Snow Cake" does a great job as the hapless divorcee Dan trying to kill himself rather than come to terms with his attraction to other men. Callum Keith Rennie plays Duck MacDonald, the town workman, who has an attraction to Dan, if he could ever catch him between suicide attempts. MacIvor generates comedy such as in the scene where Sandra Oh happens upon the hanging Dan and we hear the body clunk to the floor as she cuts him down off-camera. We know what's happening and hear it, and laugh harder because we don't see it. Rennie won the Canadian Oscar, the Genie, as best supporting actor for "Last Night" and also appeared in "The Butterfly Effect." Sandra Oh who has become prominent via the hit TV series "Grey's Anatomy" and films like "Under the Tuscan Sun" & "Sideways" turns in a stellar performance as the real estate woman Carol French who'd rather hide a body in an empty house rather than blow a sale. Her husband is Buddy who is the town cop played by Paul Gross who we saw as the Canadian mountie in the "Due South" TV series. Buddy is tempted toward an affair by local restaurant owner Sandra Anderson played by Rebecca Jenkins who was in the "10.5" disaster TV movie. She also received a Genie nomination for Best Original Song for "Wilby Wonderful." Her daughter Emily has to sort out her relationship with a boy. Emily is played by Ellen Page who currently appears in "X-Men 3" and garnered a Best Supporting Actress Genie nomination for "Wilby Wonderful." The little cafe patron who hates gays named Irene played by Mary Ellen MacLean also gives a delightful cameo performance. "Wilby Wonderful" is a film that speaks about tolerance and people's need to be loved and find love. The characterizations are top drawer in this delightful little gem. BRAVO!