Elroy is a
black comedy based on actual events: Arlo Walker of Winnipeg, when told he had
six to nine months to live, took it upon himself to rob 24 banks and distribute
the money anonymously to poor people he knew. Finally caught, Arlo refused to
divulge the whereabouts of the money and was sentenced to 13 years in
penitentiary - where he obviously had the last laugh!
The film entirely fictionalizes these events. Arlo
becomes Elroy, a simple-minded man full of love and compassion unable to
express his feelings to those around him. And all those around him consider him
too dull-witted to have any emotions.
Told
he has six months to live, Elroy is suddenly liberated. He can do whatever he
wants and not be concerned with consequences. He starts robbing banks in order
to help those close to him, a collection of quirky, lower-class
"losers": Leslie, his tow-truck driver sister struggling to keep up
her truck payments; Jake, his brother, trying to raise two raucous twin boys as
a single father on welfare; various families whose boys play for the Devils
hockey team where the twins play and Elroy works on the bench; and, most
importantly, Rita, the woman Elroy
loves, an over-the-hill exotic dancer who wants to go "straight” and open
a beauty salon.
The money each of them
anonymously receives, however, only leads to greed, antagonism, and greater
problems - and greater comic anxiety among them all. When Elroy is finally
discovered and the police close in on him, they all cruelly abandon him.
But Elroy's love is
unconditional. In spite of everyone's cruelty, he refuses to lessen his
sentence by divulging the whereabouts of the money at his trial. That is when
everyone else, lead by Rita, recognize the true breadth of Elroy's compassion
and barge into the courtroom to loudly insist that Elroy save himself and tell the
court where the money is. But Elroy, satisfied that his "family"
finally does care, remains silent and accepts his thirteen year sentence with
an enigmatic grin.
Elroy has a bittersweet farewell
with Rita, who finally appreciates that in Elroy she has found a man who
expresses true love because it is entirely selfless. In the end, all have been
touched by him, including the Devils who are so inspired they go on to win the
hockey championship. And Elroy ends up fulfilled for the first time in his life.
And bragging to his cellmates that he'll be out of prison in no time at all:
"I'll bet my life on it!"