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It does not matter if it is a Roger Ebert quote or not: any good movie is never too long, while any bad movie cannot be too short. It is no wonder “Sundowners,” which clocked at 97 minutes felt like an eternity to me. I am referring to the Canadian Indie Comedy here. I daresay it felt longer than ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and ‘Shoah’ too. To me, the movie is bad, and to ‘Ebert’ it is an indifferent scenario.
But I must concede this there is something frightfully unique about it. Unique enough to label it as different. As far as I know, it is the only film where every scene appeared to be stretched far too long. Now that I think about it, there are two core characters in the film who have a breakfast scene. It’s so short that it could very well be skipped. However, it is necessary for the completion of the storyline. One character throws up later which is kind of comical when put in context with the overall plethora of nonsense meetings and discussions. You would not need to hold your breath for those scenes, because in fact, they will feel somewhat reasonable compared to the mountains of drivel. Plus, these characters thoroughly improve the movie pace. The lethargic tempo ‘Sundowners’ features does tend to progress a little allowing for more manageable portrayals.
Toronto’s own Pavan Omondi wrote and directed “Sundowners,” which revolves around two thirty something Canadian friends who have been tasked with shooting photographs of a wedding in beautiful Mexico. Alex (Phil Hanley) is a professional photographer, but his future looks bleak. His job pays him poorly, and his boss (Tim Heidecker) is a cruel caricature of an arrogant bully. When he gets offered the job in Mexico, Alex hires his equally jaded friend Justin (Luke Lalonde) as his assistant.
There are two glaring issues with this film that I’m certain of. The first is that while Hanley and Lalonde might be decent fellows to have a drink with, they lack any theatrical experience; this is their debut movie. Both, a comedian and a musician, were thrust into a new environment of screen acting, and it didn’t work out too well. The second point, which is much more important, is that they did not have the necessary boundaries or support while attempting to improvise.
Now, I know I can hear the collective groans from thousand filmmakers as they read those words. As most professionals in the field know, improvised movies well, for the most part, tend to suck. Well, not so much if you have brilliant, practiced improvisers like Steve Martin and Chevy Chase. But even those guys wisely depended on good scripts. But later on as you bring up the two here, put them in front of the camera, let them improvise and then after the first three editors take a bulle yeah, look and you’ve got a movie in which every scene seems far too long.
Put everything from here to after the end. Most movies with this premise have dispatch with the Canadian set up in 5 to 7 brisk minutes then head for the sun. This one takes 26 minutes for the movie to reach Mexico after all. Sundowners dither through nearly a third of it’s length by having extended scene between Alex and his boss where the basic points are made quickly, then dragged on and gets worse. And then there’s the scene where Justin is confronted by his ex bitter ex girlfriend. Most viewers will have their patience tested to the limit with that argument, while admitting it connects to nothing else in the movie.
Matters do not seem to get any better when the boys get to Mexico, notably portrayed by Colombia. There are stereotypical problems like finding taxis and a hotel. But a uniquely suggestive moment unfolds when the boys attempt to locate their room but have forgotten the number. They crankily bypass various doors with their electronic key. Changes in their enraged demeanor is the best description of their activity. One member of the group says that they have taken four hours to find the room which could be laughable if it didn’t feel that long.
I will spare you further plot decompression. There are the various misadventures with the wedding crew and vacationers that don’t go as planned, after which the heroes return to Canada. ‘Sundowners’ is, A high level idea of a buddy comedy. Undoubtedly this was also produced by Los Angeles. You know that if Wilson Owen or Seth Rogen are in it, the laughter is playing out. For this masterpiece, it could be gunned not from an increasing budget, but normalized skillful writing, acting and directing. It is not the case that there is no demand for Mondi’s film. Putting aside people who endorse other parts of Canada, it is for those who have a desire for indie style blundering and roughness.
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