Everything’s Gone Green

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When Ryan wakes up, his girlfriend is moving him out. He’s just not motivated enough. He gets suspended from work because of the morbid poetry he writes. But the day can only go uphill from here right? Well you are right! His mother calls with news: they’ve won the lottery! $4.3 million! Tiny catch though: dad can’t find the ticket. The lottery people are pretty understanding, and in the meantime, they offer Ryan a job. 

The script is by Douglas Coupland, so you know that’s not all there is to it. I have a perpetual love-hate relationship with Douglas Coupland (author of Generation X, Shampoo Planet, Hey Nostradamus! and more), and I do mean that literally. Well, semi-literally, because I assure you this is a very one-sided relationship in which I have thoughts about Mr. Coupland and I do not exist for him. But the gist is: I’ve found no middle ground between love and hate. But he’s an ideas guy, and this is an ideas movie. Like: capital-c Capitalism. Ryan tangles with middle class contentment. Swindles and scams are all around – even his parents aren’t settling for the status quo. So he’s corruptible. Ripe for corruption. God I wish someone would offer to corrupt me. I’m super for sale. I’d definitely do shady stuff for money. It’s just that I’m not worth anything. Politicians really hog corruptions. We should work on making that a little more equal-opportunity.

There are several things I like about this movie. First, Paulo Costanzo. Talented guy. Second, the Vancouver setting. Vancouver gives Toronto a run for its money in terms of Canadian cities that always stand in for American cities in movies. Vancouver has a booming film business, and Everything’s Gone Green gives us a nice little behind the scenes look at it. For once, Vancouver gets to just be herself. 

The movie wants to marry high-brow themes with an easy, breezy, quirky, indie romance, which works about as well as a palm tree in a conference room. Good intentions but a little out of place. It sometimes feels a little lectury. Although I often sound pretty lectury, so who am I to judge? I mean, I’m also pretty judgy. Not that that qualifies me. Some would call it a defect of character. I call it an endless potential for comedy.

What were we talking about? Oh yeah. Paulo Costanzo. He should get all the roles Jesse Eisenberg’s considered for, because Jesse Eisenberg is a twat and the world could stand to be a great deal less twatty. Everthing’s Gone Green isn’t going to knock your socks into next Wednesday but it might relocate them 16 minutes into the future. It’s dependably pleasant, little-seen, and a pretty decent flick.

13 thoughts on “Everything’s Gone Green”

    1. Jay Post author

      I think he was perfectly cast for Social Network, but that should have been a one hit wonder for him. He plays the exact same thing over and over because it’s all he can do – but there are only so many Mark Zuckerberg roles, so it gets super repetitive and deeply annoying after awhile.

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      1. observationblogger

        It took me a while to gel to the Social Network. The writing style of Aaron Sorkin irks me a little although he did a fabulous job in A Few Good Men. I like your ‘There are so many Mark Zuckerberg roles’. Very true. A movie I thought Jesse was pretty good in was The Squid and the Whale’, but it has been a long time since I have seen it.

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      2. selizabryangmailcom

        I was going to say: “Jesse Eisenberg is a twat” — explain.
        But you already did. And I agree.

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  2. Brittani

    I had to look up Paulo Costanzo as I haven’t heard of this one. It seems nice. Now I’m curious about the Eisenberg comparison.

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  3. tensecondsfromnow

    This is a pretty unseen film that deserves a bigger audience; some funny scenes, a weird off-centre Canadian vibe, and a decent central performance. Why it wasn’t even released in many countries is a mystery…

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