Skip to content

Penticton-made movie hits the big screen

Drinkwater, (formally Change of Pace starring Eric McCormack) filmed in summer 2020
27520415_web1_211222-PWN-PentictonFilmNowStreaming_1
Will and Grace star Eric McCormack wearing a Penticton Bike Barn bib while playing Hank in the Penticton-made movie Drinkwater which debuts this month. (Film grab)

Every wonder what happened to that movie they were filming across Penticton in 2020 starring Will and Grace star Eric McCormack?

Now you can watch Penticton in all its glory in the newly released movie Drinkwater (formally called Change of Pace.) Our city neighbourhoods, Tim Hortons drive thru, the Sicamous and Pen Hi are featured in the movie now available for streaming through the Whistler Film Festival.

“This may be one of the most apologetically Canadian films we’ve ever seen: there is a Zamboni, an extended Tim Hortons drive-thru scene, a subplot about a Wayne Gretzky rookie card, and the sounds of classic Canadian rockers from Doug and the Slugs to Loverboy. These ingredients mix well for a light-hearted coming-of-age story that is thoroughly enjoyable in a John Hughes sort of way,” writes the Whistler Film Festival.

Among the iconic Penticton locations and landmarks that grace the screen are the SS Sicamous, the Penticton Vees at play in the South Okanagan Events Centre, Penticton Secondary School, and other locations, said a press release from the city of Penticton at the time.

The original name for the movie was called Change of Pace, inspired by a 60-minute, Super-8 film that local filmmaker Graham Fraser and Mike Drinkwater shot in their final year of high school in 1980. Now, nearly 40 years later, Fraser’s son, Luke Fraser, has written a new script, partnering with the pair to re-envision the original screenplay.

READ MORE: Change of Pace films across Penticton

Drinkwater is a sweet coming of age story about Mike Drinkwater who is bullied at school and his father, played by Eric McCormack (Will and Grace) is a scam artist, hardly the role model Mike deserves. A young woman moves to town and their friendship gives them both courage to overcome their challenges.

Produced by Graham Fraser, director is Stephen Campanelli and the cast is Daniel Doheny as Mike and Louriza Tronco as Wallace and Eric McCormack as Hank, Mike’s father.

Watch Drinkwater before Dec. 31 for $17.

To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.

<>
 

@PentictonNews
newstips@pentictonwesternnews.com

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.



Monique Tamminga

About the Author: Monique Tamminga

Monique brings 20 years of award-winning journalism experience to the role of editor at the Penticton Western News. Of those years, 17 were spent working as a senior reporter and acting editor with the Langley Advance Times.
Read more