Everyday is Like Sunday is a scrappy but endearing low-budget feature about a trio of Toronto 20-somethings grappling with romantic woes and career uncertainties.

By JASON ANDERSON Special to the Star
Thu., Aug. 15, 2013
Local indie comedy Everyday Is Like Sunday has a fresh take on quarter-life crises.

A scrappy but endearing low-budget feature about a trio of Toronto 20-somethings grappling with romantic woes and career uncertainties, the movie is populated by young people who are confused, conflicted and unfailingly sardonic. Since they often congregate in familiar bars, cafés and parks in the city’s west end, the characters may be recognizable as a particular variety of downtown hipster. But whatever you call them, don’t call them slackers.

“We never refer to them as that,” says Pavan Moondi, who co-wrote and directed Everyday Is Like Sunday. “You see the word a lot when you see shows or movies about people in their 20s but aren’t necessarily by people in their 20s. They often turn out like cartoon characters who revel in their aimlessness; they love not having a job and getting to wear a robe all day and drink beer all the time.

“I don’t really think that’s the case,” adds the Waterloo-bred filmmaker. “I’ve found that most people who are in that period of their lives want to get out of it. We were very mindful that our characters are trying to get their stuff together. They’re all making an effort, but it may be more difficult than they expected it to be.”

As young as they are — Moondi turns 28 next week — the makers of Everyday Is Like Sunday could hardly be considered slackers, either. The indie feature, which begins a run at the Carlton Cinema on Aug. 16, was shot over 12 days last summer and then edited over the next nine months, all on a slim budget that Moondi puts in the “teens.” Locations included Trinity Bellwoods Park and such Dundas West haunts as Unlovable and E.L. Ruddy Co. Cafe.

The film’s cast includes comedians like Nick Flanagan as well as musicians Nick Thorburn and Dan Werb. Stand-up comic and Laugh Sabbath regular David Dineen-Porter stars as Mark, a recently dumped and newly unemployed sad sack trying to find a new direction with the help of his roommates, a couple played by Coral Osborne and Adam Gurfinkel.

What the result lacks in polish it makes up for in smarts, energy and local colour. The eminently cool soundtrack is another plus, with songs by Wild Nothing and Eight and a Half sharing space with original contributions by the New Pornographers’ Kathryn Calder.

Moondi says Everyday Is Like Sunday was born out of the desire to make something that he and his friends might actually enjoy and relate to, a scarcity on screens in the days before Lena Dunham’s Girls proved there was a market for twenty-something fare.

Having first pitched it as a TV series, Moondi and Robertson then reconfigured it to be a web series. Three weeks before shooting began, they decided to see if it might work as a feature film as well. Unfortunately, their plans were derailed when their original lead — Justin Rice, an American best known for his role in Bujalski’s Mutual Appreciation — couldn’t get into the country due to an immigration issue. “We shot the first day without a lead actor and were really lucky to find David on day two,” says Moondi.

Despite all the turmoil, Moondi is happy with the finished product. “I feel like we gave it everything we had to pull it off,” he says.

Everyday Is Like Sunday opens at the Carlton Cinemas Aug. 16. The 7 p.m. screening is followed by a Q&A and an after-party.

Source: Toronto Star