Dir: Paul Fox. Canada. 2006. 92mins.

A generally wellcrafted, breezy yarn, Everything's Gone Green has a lot of bright, nascenttalent but falls short of an artistic or commercial bull's-eye. It'sintelligently observed when it ought to be hilarious and lacks the requisitebite and tartness that would set it apart from the ceaseless stream of humancomedies in the marketplace.

Leads PauloCostanzo and Steph Song are very appealing leads and that might be sufficientto secure limited theatrical sales in English-speaking and a smattering ofEuropean territories. The more likely scenario is a nexus of activity in payand satellite television.

Ryan Arlen(Costanzo) has just been tossed out of his apartment by his girlfriend andessentially been bounced from his job for writing bad poetry. However, just asthose black clouds are about to blot out the sun, mom calls to tell him thatdad has won $4.3m on the lottery. The bad news is he can't find the ticket.

Things brightenbriefly when Ryan finds the ticket but it turns out not to have the winningcombination of numbers. The consolation prize is that he establishes a phonerapport with a senior official at the lotto commission who virtually hires himon the spot. Soon he's writing profiles of winners and snapping portraits formedia exploitation.

DouglasCoupland's screenplay never lets up and rather adroitly creates a rogue'sgallery of characters and a twisty yarn that's refreshingly unpredictable, evenif the template is more than familiar. Ultimately it's a boy gets girl yarn butalong the way there are myriad diversions including his retired parents becomingmarijuana growers and a man who passes himself off as the designer of a golfcourse financed by laundered Japanese yakuza money. Still it's best describedas politely bizarre.

Filmed inVancouver, director Paul Fox gets excellent mileage from the locale and has puttogether a first class crew. It gets a further assist from an uptempo musicscore.

The film turns onRyan succumbing to taking some quick cash by tipping off the money launderer tothe identity of lottery winners. His girlfriend Ming (Song) puts up the mirrorof corruption to his face and it doesn't take much to guess whether the lady orthe loot will prevail.

One senses thefilm-makers opted out of tying the narrative up in a neat bow. However,electing for an open-ended fade out isn't a marked improvement. Everything'sGone Green certainly suggests a solid beginning and the promise of a moreassured, less aimless tale in Fox's next effort.


Production companies
Radke Films (Can)
True West Films (Can)

Canadian distributor
Thinkfilm

International sales
Shoreline Entertainment
(1) 310 551 2060

Executive producers
Scott Mackenzie
Dan Lyon
Michael Baker
Morris Ruskin

Producers
Chris Nanos
Elizabeth Yake
Henrik Meyer

Screenplay
Douglas Coupland

Cinematography
David Frazee

Production designer
Peter Andringa

Music
David Hayman

Editor
Gareth C Scales

Main cast
Paulo Costanzo
Steph Song
JR Bourne
Gordon Michael Woolvett
Aidan Devine
Susan Hogan
Tom Butler