Set in Toronto and Cannes, Paint Cans is a satirical comedy about a trendy, middle-aged government film bureaucrat named Wick Burns. Trouble begins when his old film school chum, the slick and good looking Vittorio Musso comes into his office one day and proposes to make a 'meta-film'. He is backed by sleazy producer Neville Lewis and his flamboyant sidekick Morton Ridgewell. Meanwhile, Bryson Vautour (Nigel Bennett), Wick's boss at the Film Financing Agency of Canada, is up for promotion and is a constant thorn in Wick's side.

Wick hates the script and its director, but when he flies to Cannes and falls in love with the youthful Arundel Merton, his feelings for Vittorio's meta-film start to change. In between busy efforts seducing nubile 'wanna-be' actresses and ongoing combat with his cranky, bureaucrat-hating World War II veteran father, Wick begins to lose his bearings, and hurtles towards a murderous, but ultimately funny climax that surprises everyone--none more than Wick himself.

Copyright 1994 Salter Street Films. Reprinted with permission.

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"They're all waiting for my speech. They're going to get a lot more than they expect. I'm going to be tough. I'm going to tell them that the party's over. They're going to attack back, but I can take whatever they throw at me."