The Grand Seduction

Could it be that the genre of comedies are starting to make a positive comeback, or with the recent "Chef" and this film, "The Grand Seduction", are they merely flukes amongst the barrage of banal films that claim to be comedies, but are actually tragedies? Hopefully this will start a trend.

The small harbor of Tickle Cove is in dire need of a doctor so that the town can land a contract to secure a factory which will save the town from financial ruin. The fishing industry is all but dried up, so this opportunity is just what this town needs. Village resident Murray French (Brendan Gleeson) leads the search, and when he inadvertently finds Dr. Paul Lewis (Taylor Kitsch), he employs-- along with the whole town including Simon (Gordon Pinsent)-- tactics to seduce the young doctor to stay longer than his committed one month-- they need him to stay permanently. Tactics from wiring his house phone calls so as to find out his likes to pretending the town likes the sport, cricket-- a game he loves, is all played out here. This becomes true desperation at its finest. Will this town actually succeed at such an outlandish charade?

Others to round out the cast are Liane Balaban as Kathleen, Mark Critch as Henry Tilly, the town's banker, Rhonda Rodgers as Samantha, Carly Boone as Lucy Tilly, Steve O'Connell as Joe, the town's bartender, Matt Watts as Frank Dalton, Michael Therriault as Tripp's Asst., Geoff Adams as Tripp's Asst. #2, and Anna Hopkins as Helen (voice).

This was directed by Canadian Don McKellar ("Last Night" '98, "Childstar" '04) plus a ton of TV and shorts. The desperation and sweetness of these town folk was certainly genuine and touching and McKellar conveyed this well. It was written by Michael Dowse and Ken Scott and even though the premise was a bit formulaic, the way these guys wrote this made the concept work. It is not a physical, pratfall comedy, rather it is a subtle, dry comedy which allows the sweetness and desperation in these people to be showcased that much more.

It may be a far stretch of a premise for a film, but wouldn't it be nice to see a film that makes the proverbial lemonade out of lemons once in a while, especially since our lives can, so often, be riddled with pitfalls way too many times?

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                          Rated: PG-13                             113mins.