Final Rating: 3.5/5
In Cody Lightning’s debut film Hey Viktor!, Lightning plays a lightly fictionalized version of himself attempting to revitalize his failing career with a spiritual successor to his most famous film. Named for a notable line in Smoke Signals, Lightning’s 1998 acting debut, Hey Viktor! is a wildly funny look at minor fame that packs a surprising amount of heart.
The highlight of the film is its standout cast. In addition to Lightning, Hey Viktor! features most of the stars of Signals in cameo roles, alongside hilarious performances from comedians Hannah Cheesman and Conway Kootenay. Cheesman plays Kate, a white woman – who claims she’s “at least half-Cherokee” – who serves as Lightning’s agent and best friend. Kate’s relationship to Lightning is more “life manager” than agent, as she spends more time keeping her client from succumbing to alcoholism than actually booking him acting jobs.
Kootenay plays Reggie, Lightning’s only other friend. Affable and always eager to help, Reggie’s main role is to show up out of nowhere and ask for money. Usually, he’ll appear carrying something stolen to use as collateral. Most of Reggie’s scenes revolve around him having to make up excuses after being called out for stealing. There’s not that much variation on the joke, but Kootenay, a skilled improvisor, pulls it off every time.
The bedrock of the film is the relationship between Lightning and fellow Signals actor Simon Baker. Estranged since the release of the original film, the two have led very different career paths. Baker is a successful actor with a lengthy filmography, including a collaboration with Steven Spielberg (Into the West, a 2005 miniseries which Spielberg produced). Despite this, he maintains a modest, solitary life in Alberta. Lightning, in contrast, is a boisterous alcoholic who gets by as an acting coach for children. Far from respected within the community, he’s nevertheless generally well-liked at the local pub where he’s known for his hard-partying antics.
Initially reluctant to reunite with Lightning, Baker is convinced by a 50% stake in the production of Smoke Signals 2: Still Smoking to join the project as co-lead. Baker and Lightning sink into their roles naturally and compliment each other. Lightning as a director brings out the best in Baker, the latter coming across as a knowledgeable and passionate filmmaker frustratingly thrust into an amateur production, kept around more through devotion to his friend than interest in the project.
Lightning the character stands in contrast to Baker, both immature and experiencing a midlife crisis. Through the tumultuous production of his movie, Lightning is forced to reckon with a lifetime of failure and selfishness. He has alienated his wife, Signals co-stars, and even his best friends, who repeatedly try and fail to help him see his own flaws (the first third of the film is an elaborate intervention for Lightning’s drinking). While Baker is naturally talented and enthusiastic about acting, Lightning is egotistical and dangerously improvisational, with no respect for filmmaking as an artform beyond the gains it can provide for him personally. Through his time with Baker, Hey Viktor serves as something of a belated coming-of-age story for Lightning.
Outside of the cast, Hey Viktor! is well-executed but unambitious as a mockumentary. The first and second acts, showing the buildup and start of production on Still Smoking, work excellently and are consistently hilarious. These sections also heavily include Colin Mochrie, playing a documentarian later revealed to be a reality TV show host, who also gets several of the best jokes in the film. The presentation of the film falls apart in the third act however, a fact made worse due to the emotional payoffs of Hey Viktor! happening late into its runtime.
After premiering his film at Landback Film Festival in Edmonton, Lightning officially hits rock-bottom, forcing him to look inward before reaching out to and reconciling with the people closest to him. At this point, the movie mostly abandons the mockumentary format, favouring straightforward interactions between the characters. It’s a major step down from the intimacy of the earlier parts of the film, and results in something that feels disappointingly staged and saccharine after the near reality of the start of the film. That said, Lightning’s character arc is charming, and his performance endearing. As a director, Lightning is a promising talent with a vision that’s exceedingly fun, if not necessarily unique.
Hey Viktor! was seen during the ImagineNATIVE Film Festival.
