It's a strange one, Bruce McDonald's This Movie Is Broken. Opening tomorrow in limited release - Toronto and Vancouver for the time being - the film is not quite a concert film, not quite an indie drama, but a completely unique fusion of both. Does it work? Having seen it a couple times now I'm still not quite sure, though I certainly enjoyed it a whole lot.

Here's the basic story. Boy (Bruno) has been secretly in love with Girl (Caroline) since they were kids. Before heading off to school, Girl gives Boy a one-off, basically, and the two wake up in bed together the next morning, he having delusions of an ongoing relationship, she just wanting to score tickets for a Broken Social Scene concert later that night. Boy, of course, says he can get them, somehow actually does, then makes a play for a relationship that she doesn't want and nearly blows the whole thing up. Insert lots of good rock music.

I'm not just being coy by referring to the characters as Boy and Girl rather than by their character names, I'm really not. The narrative thread here is a slender one at best, the story line intentionally left slight by writer Don McKellar and only really inserted into things when one of the BSS folk said he felt like normal concert films were boring. There's not a lot of story in this story. There is, however, a great deal of music.

At the core of the film is a heaping helping of live concert footage from Broken Social Scene, all of it captured to film at a free outdoor concert in July of 2009, when Toronto was in the midst of a garbage strike. The entire band was on hand for the event - even ex-pat members like Feist made the trip back to participate - and the music is woven throughout the entire film.

If This Movie Is Broken doesn't work for you, it's going to be for one of two reasons. One: You're not particularly a fan of the band. If this is the case and you're counting on the story to carry you through, that's not going to happen. There's just not enough there. Two: You are a fan of the band and want as much music as possible. If this is the case then the narrative elements are going to get increasingly irritating as they pop up throughout. By not really being either kind of film - not a straight narrative and not a straight concert film - McDonald and company run the risk of alienating audiences at both ends.

For the most part, though, and for most people inclined to check something like this out, most are going to leave satisfied. Not ecstatic, but satisfied. The film is an unusual, pleasant experience. It's kind of like the night it captures, really, largely catching the tone of knocking back a couple beers while sitting down by the lake and enjoying some good tunes. It will certainly play best to fans of the band but the film actually functions best not as a concert experience but as a loving portrait of Toronto itself, as it actually is. McDonald has a remarkable sense of space and location and the film presents an obviously loving portrait of his home - even as his home happened to be piled high with garbage. His characters behave like real people behave and go where real people go and he feels no need to crank up the action or the drama to create a falsely heightened experience. He just lets things be what they are. And in the end the film has a quietly appealing charm because of that. It may not be the sort of thing that bowls you over and, hell, I have no idea how it will play to people outside of Toronto, but for those of us who live here it's a welcome reminder that where we live is a bit alright.