'Roadkill' is the second best Canadian rock'n'roll movie ever. The best one, in case you're interested, is 'Hard Core Logo'. Both movies are directed by Bruce McDonald, and it is a pity that very few people outside Canada are familiar with his work. (I'm guessing very few people IN Canada are either, but such is the way of the world...). McDonald's collaborator writer/actor Don McKellar went on to make the brilliant end of the world movie 'Last Night' sans McDonald, but the two make a great team, as this movie, and the equally original and quirky 'Highway 61' show. 'Highway 61's star Valerie Buhagiar also stars here, but in quite a different role, as Ramona, the inexperienced and tentative assistant of a sleazy rock promoter, Roy Seth (Gerry Quigley). Seth sends Ramona on an errand, to round up the Children Of Paradise, a flaky rock band who are making a mess of their tour, and losing him money. As she doesn't drive, she enlists the help of Buddy (Larry Hudson) a chatty cabbie with a million rock'n'roll anecdotes. Ramona and Buddy eventually lose track of each other, and she ends up lost and broke in Ontario, the Children Of Paradise's runaway lead singer nowhere to be found. Ramona's adventures continue, and she makes some strange acquaintances along the way, not least of which Russel the wanna-be serial killer (Don McKellar). This is a very strange, dark and (mostly) unpredictable low budget gem that should appeal to fans of odd films like 'Roadside Prophets', 'Motorama', early Jarmusch and the Coen brothers. It may not be a masterpiece but it's still an overlooked little beauty, and I wholeheartedly recommend it.
