The final countdown

Sitting side by side in a hotel room in downtown Toronto, Robb Wells, John-Paul Tremblay and Mike Smith look exhausted. The trio, dressed in character as Ricky, Julian and Bubbles, are in town to promote their new film Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day. Their press day started with a 7:30 a.m. television appearance.
“We don’t work well at those hours of the day,” says Tremblay.
“Everytime we come to Toronto it’s a disaster,” adds Wells, between sips of what appears to be a rum and coke. “We always go home needing two days to recover.”
It’s been three years since the first Trailer Park Boys film thrust the trio into the mainstream spotlight. But as it turns out, the cast weren’t entirely happy with that movie, which was backed by Hollywood heavyweight producer Ivan Reitman. They say this new instalment takes the characters back to their roots.
“It wasn’t true to what we did on the TV Show,” says Smith.
“They tried to make it more mainstream,” adds Wells.
“It was just a different undertaking,” explains Jonathan Torrance, who plays white rapper J-Roc. “It was shot on film. It looked like a film. Whereas the show, one of the characters in the show was the texture of it — it’s cheapness, it’s a celebration of video.”
Director Mike Clattenburg is mum on his feelings about the last film. But he says he enjoyed the switch back from 16mm film to handicams. “There was a disconnect, to try and really work and direct the actors because I was so far away. This time, “I was able to operate the camera very close to the actors.”
In a nod to the show’s rather absurdist roots, the film’s title — Countdown to Liquor Day — has little to do with the movie’s plot. “In one of the early drafts (Lahey) was literally counting down the days ’til (Ricky, Julian and Bubbles) got out of jail so he could start drinking again,” says Clattenburg. “I don’t know what it means but it sounds good.”
“Anybody that’s a Trailer Park Boys fan will definitely like this movie,” says Smith. “So get the f— out there and go see it.”