LA GRANDE SEDUCTION (ODEON FILMS, 2003)

By Rick Jackson

Directed by Jean-Francois Pouliot, La Grande Seduction (Seducing Doctor Lewis) is a satirical comedy about the continuing decline of small town life. At the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, it was the closing night of the Directors' Fortnight. At the 2004 Sundance Film Festival it received the world cinema dramatic audience award. Nominated for 11 Genie Awards, it won for Allen Smith's cinematography. While watching it, I was reminded of Waking Ned Devine (1999) where two longtime friends of Ned's come up with an outrageous scheme to claim his winning lottery ticket. It's a comic gem and worth renting out. Seducing Doctor Lewis is more an Anglicized title. I prefer "La Grande Seduction," since it describes the movie a lot better.

Written by Ken Scott, it is set in the small town of St. Marie-La Mauderne, which was once a thriving fishing community in Quebec. The fishermen there are now forced to live on welfare; their dignity and pride taken away by progress and government cuts. When a small company considers building a factory there, the inhabitants see an opportunity to restore what has been lost. However, there is a catch: they must have 220 people and, most importantly, a resident doctor.

Raymond Bouchard is perfectly cast as Germain Lesage, who spearheads the campaign to woo Dr. Lewis (David Boutin) to stay on the island after agreeing to a one-month trial.

Germain devises a big plan which includes learning all about him by bugging Lewis' telephone to learn more about him. This information is used to persuade him that the island is the ideal place to live.

How the town rallies together to help Germain makes the entire film one of the funniest I've seen in the last five years. It's quaintness rivals the more serious The Shipping News, shot on locaion in a small town in Newfoundland, while the ensemble cast is equally as hilarious as Nuit de Noces, which played at the Kingston Canadian Film Festival in 2002.

The rest of the inhabitants on the island feature Benoit Briere as Henri, Pierre Collin as Yvon, Lucie Laurier as Eve, and Bruno Blanchet as Steve.

Pouliot maintains a good comic pace from beginning to end and you are guaranteed a belly full of laughs.

It is rated PG/Parental Guidance.

February 7, 2004

Copyright 2004 Rick Jackson