Roller Town
(Canada, 76 min.)
Dir. Andrew Bush, Writ. Andrew Bush, Mark Little, Scott
Vrooman
Starring: Mark Little, Kayla Lorette, Adam Bayne, Jordan
Talbot, George William Basil, and various other Picnicface peeps.
“Disco didn’t die. It was murdered.” Roller Town is pure B-movie buffoonery. Thanks to the hilarious
antics of the Halifax-based comedy troupe Picnicface, made famous by their
online sensation Powerthirst,
Roller Town is a laugh-out-loud farce
about the glory days of disco. Thanks to its charmingly comedic camp, Roller Town is the Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter of cheap Canadian roller disco movies.
Life at Roller Town has made Leo dream of being a star
skater. He wants to join the ranks of a prestigious roller academy so that he
can prove himself with eight little wheels and a pair of hot pants. The academy
doesn’t seem to want a poor little orphan boy, though, but Leo gets another
chance to spin and he shows that he’s the real star skater in town when the
goons from his past reappear and threaten to fill Roller Town
with—gasp!—quarter-guzzling video games!
Leo proves that he has bigger disco balls than every man in
town by taking on the inept thugs, plus some sweater-wearing disco haters, with
his sweet moves and good vibes. He even gets the girl, Julia (Kayla Lorette), a
disco debutante from the roller academy whose parents—gasp!—refuse to let her
visit Roller Town lest she end up with a shame baby.
Roller Town moves briskly
through its nonsensical plot in a Saturday
Night Fever-ish circus of flared pants and big hair. It's seventy-six
minutes of pure silliness with the ridiculous disco tracks drawing as many
laughs from the crowd as do the potty humour and Family Guy-level randomness. The shameless goofiness of Roller Town works since the whole film
looks like it was shot for twenty bucks, with everyone in the cast and crew
having a complete riot. The crowd at the Mayfair seemed to having a wild time
too, as Roller Town earned constant
ripples of laughter from the audience from beginning to end. From the
scene-stealing disco duck to the mindless musical numbers, Roller Town is a crowd-pleasing comedy. Hats off to the
Picnicfacers: Roller Town is sure to
become a Canadian cult classic.
Rating: ★★★½ (out of ★★★★★)
Roller Town screened in Ottawa at The Mayfair on October 25.
It is released in
Canada from D Films.