Vandits: Wacky Canuck Heist Film Vulgar, Lowbrow… and Awesome
By John Kirk
Rating: B
Apparently, before they could start shooting, the crew of Vandits had their camera equipment and lights stolen. They were left with just four lights and two stands.
That’s actually appropriate to this film, given that it’s about a bunch of lowlife crooks and more importantly, it’s one I can laugh at.
Lowbrow Canadian comedy proved its success with the 12 seasons of Trailer Park Boys. True to form, Robb Wells (Ricky from Trailer Park Boys) makes an appearance in this film as Ramone, a bingo hall employee with significant anger management issues. It may be a minor role, but his inclusion in the cast earmarks the film’s genre.
Like Trailer Park Boys, Vandits takes place in a small Canadian community, in this case, Selkirk, Manitoba. The crew of four misfits, including Uncle Sheldon (Tony Nappo), his nephew, Veeny (Francesco Antonio), Jesse (Victoria Turko) and Guy (Jesse Camacho) work up a scheme to knock off a senior citizens’ bingo hall that offers a $25,000 grand prize.
They take their name from Uncle Sheldon’s 1970’s van, complete with erotic art panelling. It’s in the same vein of humour as stealing barbeques or fixing up shopping carts and reselling them back to their grocery store owners.
With liquid, powdered and herbal courage fortifying their resolve, the crew infiltrate the bingo hall, hosted by the suave Ned — Nasty Ned, if you know him well enough (Enrico Colantoni) — and begin their bumbling attempt at the heist. Which, as expected, goes south.
What I like about this film is that it doesn’t just rely on slapstick but employs a combination of Groundhog Day repetition and Pulp Fiction-style violence to carry its comedy. Not only do the would-be thieves laughably fail, but the ramifications of their failures have a series of even funnier consequences that transfer over to the next iteration of their bumbling attempt at “getting rich.”
The cast is also highly enjoyable. Though steeped in formulaic stereotypes — the Jersey-Shore knock-off, the dark emo, and everyone’s favourite fat guy, who just happens to be named Guy — the characters are funny and make good use of their arch-typical nature to comedic ends.
That’s especially true of Jann Arden, who greatly deserves a nod of recognition for her role as Blanche the Snack Counter Lady. I mean, it’s a tall feat to portray libido and lust in a hairnet but that’s what Arden delivers and damn, she’s funny in this role.
It was also good to see Enrico Colantoni again. I’ve been a fan of his ever since his days in Traders. He delivers a thoroughly reprehensible performance as the aged-beyond-his-prime bingo caller. His septuagenarian seductive flirting is a feature of the film that needs to be witnessed to be appreciated.
Of course, the humour is crude and vulgar, but it has a variety of different subplots within the major story that take the audience by surprise and manage to evoke laughter that is well-earned.
For a small-budget production that started off on the shakiest of foundations, this is not only a successful film but a testament to the depths that lowbrow Canadian humour is prepared to sink to and make us laugh. I just can’t help but wonder: what’ll get stolen when they put on their next film?
Vandits. Directed by Stu Stone. Starring Tony Nappo, Victoria Turko, Francesco Antonio, Jesse Camacho, Megan Best, Ray Strachan, Robb Wells, Enrico Colantoni and Jann Arden. Streaming on HollywoodSuite and Amazon Prime December 15.