All Hat is charming, playful, and Western-esque. The story weaves a web between an ensemble of sexy jockeys, ex-cons, scheming gamblers and straight-shooting ranchers, telling a story about a wealthy man?s attempt to build a golf resort on some honest, hard working people?s land.

The story itself is full of complex twists and layered characters which add a great deal of depth to the deceptively simple premise.

Director Leonard Farlinger was on hand to answer questions along with his producer and writer, and several cast members ? Rachael Leigh Cook, Luke Kirby, Noam Jenkins, Lisa Ray and others.

Brad Smith, who wrote the novel the film is based on as well as the screenplay, said of the experience of adapting his book for the screen that there was ?some pleasure, but also some pain? in the process of cutting a 300 page book down to a 100 page script.

TIFF Programmer Steve Gravestock, a native Hamiltonian, asked the cast how it was filming in his home town, and director ?Great weather! One day of shooting the racing sequences, we got one race in the can, it was eleven o?clock, I remember it was November 1st, the day I became a man. The snow fell everywhere. You couldn?t see ten feet in front of you. We had 30 thoroughbred horses, countless wranglers, I was just walking around thinking ?it sucks to be a leader?. But we got it done, we melted the snow, shot into a paddock, and you?d never know!?

When asked about his former horse experience, Luke Kirby joked ?I ? didn?t know how to ride a horse. Then I took horse lessons. Then I became a horse. Then I got on myself and rode.?

As the audience laughed, Kirby continued ?I was riding a horse for the first time with Rachael and I had been on for about five minutes when the instructor said ?oh, why don?t we go to the canyon where we?ll have more space? and we got to the gate which is in kind of a suburban area, and I pulled on the reigns and the horse went right and the horse started jumping and the horse started trotting down the street. There was a big tree with a branch and I didn?t know what to do so I crouched down, and when you crouch down on a horse, the horse wants to go fast. Then I thought to hold onto the horse I would squeeze my legs into it. If you hold onto a horse with your legs it wants to go even faster. We were on sidewalks and I thought it might be a bit slippery. I was worried about my own safety, mostly. So I took my boots out of the stirrups and used the momentum of the horse to lift myself onto the saddle, and I looked down and ... jumped off the horse?.

The cast was clearly in a jovial mood, and the jokes continued as Rachael Leigh Cook admitted to also falling off her horse, and Lisa Ray said she prepared for the role of a hardy country girl by ?shovelling a lot of shit?.

All Hat screens again on Thursday Sept. 13, 12:45pm at the Varsity.