Funky Town (2011)

Directed by: Daniel Roby | 136 minutes | drama, music | Actors: Patrick Huard, Justin Chatwin, Paul Doucet, Sarah Mutch, Raymond Bouchard, Geneviève Brouillette, François Létourneau, Sophie Cadieux, Romina D’Ugo, Jocelyne Zucco, Janine Theriault, Camille Pennell, Dominic Longo, Vince Benvenuto, Lina Roessler

Those who like disco and can appreciate films like Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘Boogie Nights’ and Cameron Crowe’s ‘Almost Famous’ can enjoy the DVD or Blu-ray disc of the Canadian ‘Funkytown’. The seventies vibe of sex, drugs, and uh… disco comes across well and the fine, clear surround mix puts you as a spectator in the middle of the dance floor. It’s certainly not all fun and games. No, some of the characters come off very poorly – because of their sexual orientation, stupidity, midlife crisis, or unfortunate coincidence (and sometimes all at once) – but that also belongs in a film that wants to paint a true picture of the seventies . ‘Funkytown’ shows the good times and the bad times, without over-focusing on one aspect (sex and/or drugs, for example), which is good news for the viewer.

Probably the most famous name from the cast – at least for non-Canadians – is Justin Chatwin, who stood out for his role as the son of Tom Cruise’s character in ‘War of the Worlds’ and has since starred in the series “Lost” and in the mediocre supernatural drama ‘The Invisible’, which was the disappointing surprise film at the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival. Here he has an important role as Tino, who, together with his girlfriend Tina (born for each other, so) forms an attractive, perfect-looking couple, but turns out to have actual homosexual desires and expresses them more and more during the film. Not publicly of course, because his immediate environment is not exactly served by his “kind”. It’s a courageous role: one that Chatwin can really sink his teeth into, or rather: could have done, also because of the difficult relationship with his mother. But much further than some inner struggles, which are mainly communicated through his actions (one moment he shares the bed with his friend, the next [en publique] he chooses his girlfriend and the heterosexual “ideal”). It’s not that he’s really doing badly, but his role screams for more emotion and empathy.

In that respect, Patrick Huard does better than disco/tv star Bastien Lavallée, who is sliding further and further into the abyss. And while he lives up to all the clichés at the plot level, he still manages to give credibility to his role. Yes, he has a midlife crisis and is wrong in the way he cheats on his wife (and daughter), but he continues to appear human and sympathetic to an extent. He makes mistakes and has a plate in front of his head, but we still allow him his short-lived pleasures and we really hope that later his wife and daughter will accept him again.

The film remains fairly balanced and truthful for a long time, but sometimes opts for exaggerated contrasts or blatantly ironic situations (such as when Tino has to send a man who comes to dinner at his mother’s restaurant away because of “gay behavior” while he was still a few days earlier). was in bed with him; or when Bastien goes down the drain and has to take on a very humiliating role in a sitcom: dressed as a hot dog, being sprayed with mustard).

The film is quite long but the pace is pleasant and the director takes the time to develop the storylines and let them flow into each other. Only at the end of the film – when the eighties arrive – everything is brought to an end a bit quickly, and unfortunately not all equally believable. A young woman is killed, a man has become heroin from coke, a gay man gets AIDS (what else?), another becomes an invalid and [opnieuw] father, and yet another finds happiness in a paradise home on the coast. For a film that takes its time, this all moves very quickly.

In general, ‘Funkytown’ is fortunately very successful. When the young couple Tino (Justin Chatwin) and Tina (Romina D’Ugo) officially enter a dance competition for a popular TV show, the viewer is completely drawn into the ‘Saturday Night Fever’ atmosphere. In addition, the film offers a rich palette of characters, who all go through their own development, although there is some stereotyping and easy or unbelievable plot twists here and there. But even though the film goes less in depth than the aforementioned films by Anderson and Crowe, the broad spectrum of storylines is welcome, the atmosphere is pleasant, and the film remains easy to watch, despite the long running time.