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Canadian Cinema Canon #5: Rock, Paper, Scissors: The Way of the Tosser

Written by Kevin Johns

Tuesday, 29 September 2009 00:00

Filmmakers Tim Doiron and April Mullen's Rock, Paper, Scissors: The Way of the Tosser is the type of movie that makes you want to take all of the Hollywood blockbusters in your DVD collection, throw them in the garbage, and This is independent cinema at its best.then tattoo SUPPORT INDEPENDENT CINEMA across your chest.

(Well, it's the type of movie that makes me want to do that anyway.)

The Way of the Tosser is a hilarious mockumentary chronicling the daily regime of rock paper scissors enthusiast Gary Brewer as he trains for the Rock Paper Scissors Word Championships. His girlfriend Holly (retired from the game after a humiliating scissors vs. paper loss) supports Gary along with their friend and roommate Trevor Morehouse (when he's not distracted by his Polaroid camera or the ghost of Rufus, the deceased family dog). Quirky characters in memorable costumes delivering hilarious deadpan one-liners and brilliant physical gags makes for comedy gold.

April Mullen as Holly Brewer, and Ryan Tilley as Trevor Morehouse

Shot in seven days on a limited budget by a crew that totalled barely a dozen individuals, this movie is independent cinema at its best. The Way of the Tosser isn't a corporate endeavour. It's not filmmaking by committee. A group of executives from a multinational corporation didn't determine the narrative based on test-groups findings. And this isn't a remake produced with the intention of cashing in on the nostalgia of something that was popular a decade ago. This is a unique story told by passionate artists with talent equal to the lofty aims set forth by their own ambitions.

Beautiful designed art direction, brilliant costumes, and wonderful performances all serve not only the story but also the characters themselves, for this film is undeniably a character piece. The adventure Gary and his friends undergo is engrossing, but it is the charm of the characters themselves (including Gary's nemesis Baxter Pound, mentor Finnegan O'Reilly, and neighbours Lloyd and Linda Ludlow) that keeps audiences watching throughout the feature's length. And just who those dynamic characters are is undeniably Canadian.

One of the definitive classics of Canadian cinema, Doland Shebib's 1970 masterpiece Goin' Down the Road, tells the story of two men from the Maritimes who make a pilgrimage to big city Toronto in hopes of escaping the poverty of the east. What they discover in Toronto is more hard times. Unable to get a foot in the door, they return to the coast, defeated.

"A unique story told by passionate artists with talent equal to the lofty aims set forth by their own ambitions."

Canadian cinema is not about how cool it would be to look like Zac Efron and be back in high school again; that is what Hollywood is about. American cinema excels at telling stories about underdogs who prevail against all odds. Canadian cinema (films like Goin' Down the Road and The Way of the Tosser) excels at telling stories about underdogs who face adversity and fail. That failure is something that - despite what Hollywood would have us believe - is a lot easier to relate to than narratives about success against all odds.

It is no surprise The Way of the Tosser has been an underground smash hit, winning awards at festivals and gaining fans across the country. There are very few people out there who will ever experience what it is like to look like Zac Efron, but there are endless numbers of people who have experienced what it feels like to be a Gary Brewer or a Holly Brewer or a Trevor Morehouse.

Tim Doiron as Gary Brewer

As we push further and further into the twenty-first century, there is no shortage of people who are passionate about something that only a handful of others care about. As our own Kris Millett recently noted, we are increasingly becoming a culture of micro-tribes, and, when everyone belongs to a micro-tribe, everyone can relate the characters in The Way of the Tosser.

It is a film that crosses boundaries and unites audiences for the two hours they are watching it, allowing them to feel like they are part of something special, if only for a short while. For as long as that theatre is dark, or the television screen is alight, you too are a tosser.

"A Canadian narrative about facing adversity, losing, and carrying on to face more adversity."

Rock, Paper, Scissors: The Way of the Tosser succeeds because it perfectly combines all the best elements of independent cinema (its unpredictability, unique passion, and uncompromised vision) with a prototypically Canadian narrative about facing adversity, losing, and carrying on to face even more adversity.

The happy ending for Gary and Holly is only that they are able to keep doing what they are passionate about, but the happy ending for cinema lovers is that forty years after Goin' Down the Road Canadian artists such as Tim Doiron and April Mullen continue produce enjoyable, original, and distinctly Canadian art.

The Rock, Paper, Scissors: The Way of the Tosser DVD is on sale now across Canada. Bonus Features includes: The "Cult Tour" Featurette, the "Making of" Tosser, Interviews from the Filmmakers, the Rock, Paper, Life Rap Music Video, A Tossin' Tutorial with Gary and Holly, Bloopers, Outtakes, Deleted Scenes and much more.