The slick comedy  That Burning Feeling is another in a growing number of local films to wryly comment on Vancouver’s real-estate situation. Screening on October 5 and 11, the Jason James–directed crowd pleaser concerns a marketing wiz whose life of commitment-free promiscuity is derailed by a dose of the clap. Spiritual growth follows, naturally. But only after we’ve come to know Adam Murphy (Paulo Costanzo) through his work for a pretentious developer played beautifully by John Cho. “I’m the guy who turned a rat-infested bread factory into the most desirable lofts in town,” Murphy says in the film’s opening scene. Director James told the Straight that it’s a subject “that has to creep into the stories we tell”.

“There are a lot of themes going on in the film,” he said. “The idea of an authentic relationship and the search for your authentic self. But there’s also themes of community and this idea that buildings don’t build community; people do. I don’t want to make a big political statement about development in Vancouver, but it’s an interesting idea and it was a place to start with this guy.” James added that he also sees “a lot of comedy” in real-estate development. When you get a load of the film’s Hobo Life and Wetlands Village, so will you.