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
"It's a cool indie film, a cool Canadian film and one so deeply
connected to pop culture and a specific time and place you can’t help
but identify with the characters, particularly if you’re a member of the
infamous Generation X."
Jagged Magazine
"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
"the vigil shows us who we are and what we're all about."
Taxi Magazine
"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