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

VERSUS IVAN (VERSUS IVAN INCORPORATED, 2004)

By Rick Jackson

Versus Ivan which premiered at the Kingston Canadian Film Festival in March 2005 is an auspicious directorial debut for Queen's University graduate Chris Gamble.

Filmed over 19 days, the rest of the cast are also graduates from Queen's, while community members from Yellowknife where it was filmed filled in wherever possible.

Written, produced and directed by Gamble, it is a black comedy about routine, control and the acceptance of change as it affects one individual, Ivan Schulloppses, who has been trapped by his own dreams and routine. The mundane daily life he has led for the past eight years has suddenly gone awry for no reason. It all begins when the package of food he has been receiving from overseas has stopped coming. Life at and after work is slowly crumbling in small pieces which annoy him to no end. He ends up losing his job and, generally, feeling lost and frustrated in a world which used to make him feel satisfied and happy. Although he finds out who is stealing the packages by film's end, life is still not perfect but there is a glimmer of hope which only he can understand.

Liam Karry, a Queen's University Theatre graduate, makes his feature film debut after appearing in various stage plays and short art films. As Ivan he shows promise an up-and-coming actor whose sensitive performance you can empathize as he suffers from the daily doldrums which we all have gone through under far different circumstances. How he copes with the reality of discovery and accepts the answers to his quixotic way of life comprises much of the film's focus. He accomplishes this in one week.

Tennille Read shines in her feature debut as Miriya Huxley, the girl next door who wants to help but cannot summon up enough courage to go through with it. Instead of feeling sorry for him, she tries to understand his predicament and invites him over for supper to have a good home cooked meal. Her generosity and sympathy guide the plot through its own plodding way. There is also a hint of a budding romance in her last statement which Ivan has yet to grasp, but we do watching because it's written all over her face. When the story ends you can only speculate, but it is all part of the faint hope of Ivan's complete recovery from his inherent blackness.

The supporting cast features Ken Woodley as a psychotic mailman, Hannah Clarke as a demon child, Rick Poltaruk as Ivan's boss and head of the bocce ball team, and Dave Lovell as his colleague Niko at Web Smart Assets.

Locations in Yellowknife include the Black Knight, Javaroma, Parker Park and Co-Op which meant many long shooting days because the midnight sun allowed 16 hours of daylight.

Despite some rough spots in editing and some annoying pieces of music in some scenes, Versus Ivan is a noteworthy production.

Footnote: The version that played at The Screening Room the week of October 21, 2005 was seven minutes shorter from the original 97 minutes when it was premiered at the Kingston Canadian Film Festival.

Copyright 2005 Rick Jackson

SAINT RALPH (ODEON FILMS, 2004)

By Rick Jackson

Written and directed by Michael McGowan, Saint Ralph does not live up to its title. Right from the beginning, it is clearly a silly, amoral film starring Adam Butcher as Ralph Walker, who has no respect for anyone but his mother. His foul mouth and crude behaviour are sacriligious when you consider he is going to the Roman Catholic School For Boys where such language and actions are frowned upon.

McGowan wastes no time in ridiculing the entire school system by turning Walker into not just a troublemaker, but a hero. This poorly conceived story lacks the seriousness of its subject. You are left laughing at the wrong time. I fail to see how he could possibly be funny in a story that should have been about his adolescent awakening into manhood where he might curb his wild ways and finally grow up. To even have Ralph be persuaded a miracle might save his dying mother by trying to win the Boston Marathon is absolutely ludricous.

Despite weaknessnes in the story, there are good performances by Gordon Pinsent as Father Fitzpatrick, who tries to teach Ralph to mend his ways. Pinsent gives the film whatever seriousness it lacks and his presence is, at least, mindful that there is some dignity and respect at the school. Fitzpatrick's stern hand keeps everyone in line.

Cast as Father Hibbert, a former Marathon runner who joined the priesthood at the beginning of World War II,is Campbell Scott. His solid performance as Ralph's teacher and trainer for the marathon adds whatever credibility there is left.

In other roles, Shauna MacDonald plays Ralph's mother, Emma; Michael Kaner is Chester, Ralph's best friend at school; Tamara Hope is Claire Collins, the girl Ralph likes to think as his girlfriend, and Jennifer Tilly is Nurse Alice.

The songs on the soundtrack are trite and awful, as is the appearance of a mystery man, who may or may not be God, dressed as Santa Claus. He makes no real sense except to make the story veer into the direction of a fantasy, which this film is definitely not.

Set during the period between September 1953 and May 1954, Saint Ralph fails to deliver as a Breaking Away (1979) for the 21st century. It's also one of the worst films of the year. Better to stay home and watch a rerun of Touched By The Angel on television.

It is rated PG, with the warnings: coarse language and not recommended for young children.

After premiering at the Kingston Canadian Film Festival, it opened for a regular run on May 28, 2005.

March 5, 2005

Copyright 2005 Rick Jackson

PINK LUDOOS (2005)

By Rick Jackson

Pink Ludoos is a smart coming of age comedy in which a contemporary young woman wants to live her life without being tied down by the traditions of her Sikh family.

Jay Kazim is simply wonderful to watch as Gugan Dhaliwal. Her performance is down-to-earth and funny as she searches within herself enough courage to cry out and be heard among her mother's platitudes and superstitions.

Early in the film, Gugan learns she is pregnant with three girls out of wedlock. Tradition says that boys are the choice gender. When a baby is born, it is celebrated by sweets called "pink ludoos."

Written by Belle Mott, the focus of the story is on this important Sikh tradition and how Gugan seeks to change it. When she meets Raymond (Chenur Hendel) she doesn't realize who he really is.

Shaheen Khan, who played the mother in Bend It Like Bendham, plays Mrs. Dhaliwal. She wants Gugan, her eldest daughter, to follow tradition and watch out for certain things such as the upcoming eclipse. Gugan also doesn't like the spices she throws around the air because she doesn't like them.

The rest of the supporting cast features Jolly Bader as Mr. Dhaliwal, who is torn by past mistakes and has become a lazy drunkard, and Agam Darshi is Pria, Gugan's younger brother.

Under Guarav Seth's capable direction, Pink Ludoos is a delightful surprise.

March 5, 2005

Copyright 2005 Rick Jackson