Fantasia 2012 Review: ROLLER TOWN Rolls Out Non-Stop Funky Hilarity!

Editor, News; Toronto, Canada (@Mack_SAnarchy)
Fantasia 2012 Review: ROLLER TOWN Rolls Out Non-Stop Funky Hilarity!
Roller Town is a non-profit roller disco and its reigning king is Leo. When he's not dishing out skates at the lakefront he's peeling parquet to some funky grooves. Julia is the Mayor's daughter and a member of the elite Roller Skating Conservatory where 'ducks are turned into swans'. Much to the chagrin of her strict father she frequents at the roller disco where she meets Leo and they fall in love. But not only is their relationship at risk but local gangster Gregs and his goofy goon Beef are looking to change Roller Town into a video game arcade. Can Leo save Roller Town and get the girl in the end?

I am a bad Canadian apparently. Up until last night I had no prior knowledge of Picnicface but judging by the audience reaction to their introduction last night ahead of the screening of their first feature film Roller Town I very well should have. The sketch comedy troupe from Halifax, Nova Scotia became an internet sensation then developed a television show that was executive produced by Kids in the Hall alumnus Mark McKinney. I would like to point out at this point that I do not have cable so I believe that would grant me grounds for dismissal.

At the same time though, with no prior pretense to base my reaction to their film on, I was free to engage the film with a clean comedy palate. I do not know who enjoyed it more; the devoted fans or the uninitiated newbs like myself. You would not have been able to tell us apart last night between the bouts of uproarious laughter. Damn. Roller Town is a funny, funny movie.

A rip on the roller skating sub genre - films like Roller Boogie and Xanadu - I was completely taken by surprise by the hilarious script from director Andrew Bush and two of the films actors Andrew Little [as Leo] and Scott Vrooman [his nemesis Davis]. I tell no lies when I say I was laughing all the way from beginning to end. Be it pratfalls, slapstick, the odd dash of gross-out humor, or subtle wordplay the bounty of comedy in the script is seemingly endless!

And the audience was right there along with me. I wasn't THAT guy. You know who he is. The guy who laughs at every single joke in a Hollywood cookie cutter comedy though they are completely predictable and not funny? Yeah. Not him. There was nothing predictable about the humor in Roller Town. The jokes come sure, steady and hitting every single beat. Spike that humor with a dash of funky musical interludes by the disco group The Boogaloos [It's Fuck O'Clock was a particular standout] and you have a funky, funny comedic delight!

Roller Town will be available On Demand in the U.S. at the beginning of August and in Canada in September. A theatrical release of some sorts will happen in Canada later.

Presently Picnicface is trying to get back on the air with a new television show. It is good to be busy and working but I hope Roller Town leads to more films of this comedic caliber. A must see!
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