It is the sum of its parts that make this movie what it is. It is by no means pretensious. The simple documentary directing style with cinema verite thrown in, the characters, the acting, and some physical comedy. The Loblaws parking lot scene near the end of the movie has earned its indelible mark in Canadian movie history. The movie was mostly realism blended with some comedy. Some movies have a magical quality to them that makes them memorable and this is one of them. I think it could have done without so much of that cinema verite facial close ups and end up being more effective as an end result. The two main characters are likeable, work seeking, average Joes from the Maritimes mingling with circumstance in Toronto. Some of them from their own poor decisions. It was a low budget film shot in 6 weeks and I cant see how it could possibly cost $27,000 to make. ( in 1969 you could buy a 3 bedroom bungalow with a finished basement in a west end Toronto suburb for that kind of money ).
Review of Goin' Down the Road
