the vigil: reviews

"An amiable cast of engaging characters . . . original . . . The helmer's 
obvious regard for his creations, and his cast, [is] evident throughout . . 
. Alternarock soundtrack suits disenfranchised mood."
			Variety

"Road movie rocks."
			The Vancouver Province

"Intelligent and funny."
			The Rational, Co-op Radio

"I want to talk about the vigil as a film that fits into the road movie 
genre, because it does and it doesn't."
			Radiosonic, CBC

"[He's] really shaken things up..."
			The Afternoon Show, CBC Radio

"British Columbia boosters can take considerable pride in Justin MacGregor's 
The Vigil, a wry and appealing road picture . . .the vigil's examination of 
the differences between a real family and the 'tribalism' of people who 
merely share the same lifestyle is interesting. (Hot soundtrack, too)."
			Monday Magazine

"Quirky, funny, fresh."
			The ANZA Newsletter

"His movie frames Cobain's 1994 death as a cathartic, defining moment for 
[two] brothers and their friends, and by extension their generation."
			The Vancouver Province

"A thematic celebration of failure."
			Steven Scobie
			Winner – Governor General's Award for Poetry

"A trio of Lethbridge College students find their banal lives are shaken by 
the suicide of rock star Kurt Cobain and the subsequent arrival the next 
morning of one guy's younger brother, girlfriend in tow, who convinces the 
group to head to Seattle to participate in the vigil to commemorate Cobain's 
death. Along the way, they pick up a hitch-hiking musician and a 
wisecracking post-graduate student. Sounds like they're on a collision 
course with wackiness? Thank god, that's not the case.
	At first glance, it seems as though director/writer Justin MacGregor has 
stocked this film with characters familiar to readers of Douglas Coupland or 
Nick Hornby; directionless, sarcastic people defined by the bands they 
listen to and the surface philosophies they adhere to. Wisely, he allows 
them to grow beyond being generational commentators. The road movie seems to 
be the favorite Canadian setting of the moment, but it's here MacGregor 
allows his characters to break out of their self obsessed lives and really 
take a look around them. 3 1/2 Stars"
			SEE Magazine


the vigil: festival guides

Following Kurt Cobain's suicide in 1994, a group of twentysomethings leave 
Lethbridge, Alberta, on a journey to join the vigil for him in Seattle, 
learning about life, love and death along the way. A wry and appealing road 
film.
			Local Heroes International Film Festival 2000

Justin MacGregor's heart-felt feature debut begins with The Pursuit of 
Happiness' tune "I'm An Adult Now," and ultimately this is a film about a 
displaced generation coming of age. The benchmark here is the 1994 suicide 
of Kurt Cobain, the catalyst for this story of a group of twentysomethings 
who leave Lethbridge, Alberta, to join the vigil in Seattle. When his 
younger brother arrives at his door the morning after Cobain's suicide, 
Simon (Damon Johnson) is convinced to pull the 38-foot Winnebago out of 
storage and head off to Seattle for his generation's version of Woodstock. 
As the trip progresses and they pick up hitchhikers, long-buried feelings 
arise between Simon and his brother Jase (Trevor White), setting in motion 
tensions which threaten to tear the whole group apart.
	A strong ensemble piece, the content of the film is the young people 
themselves, as who they are and why they are heading to Seattle become the 
core of the film. Along the way this humorous drama takes up a potpourri of 
issues including vegetarian politics, sibling miscommunication, 
post-structuralist analysis of fairy tales, the evils of hair spray rock, 
global warming, the consequences of over-scooping ice cream, dysfunction, 
mourning and suicide. With plenty of kick-ass music, this is a film for 
anyone who has received final notice from the Royal Bank giving them two 
weeks to pay their student loan in full, vegetarians who have worked 
flipping hamburgers to avoid their final notices and anyone who wanted to 
join the vigil at Seattle Centre.
			Ken Anderlini
			Vancouver International Film Festival