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| Review by Benn Robbins |
I very much loved The Grand Seduction.
This film by director Don McKellar starring Brendan Gleeson and Taylor Kitsch isn’t super original, not trying to break new bounds, and isn’t going to blow you out of your seat and that is totally great with me.
In fact it is an English remake of a French Canadian film of the same name.
What this film will do is tug at your heart strings, make you laugh, probably make you cry and leave you feeing very satisfied.
Both original writer, Ken Scott and adaptation writer Michael Dowse have crafted a very sweet film about pride and the love of ones heritage and history.
What we have here is the formulaic film theme of town on the verge of collapse.
It is the story about a person who believes, with all his heart, that his town can be saved if he can procure the person/thing that could be it’s savior. What makes this film great to watch is how they unfold the tale and the characters within said tale.
Gleeson (Harry Potter series, Gangs of New York, Braveheart) is wonderful and sweet as Murray French, the stalwart protagonist who, through narration and dialogue is weaving this story.
Starting with the opening montage/monologue of his father before him, hard working and steadfast, Murray hasn’t fallen far from the tree. One might say he was unable too in such a tiny little harbor of only 120 people. However the fishing, the life’s blood of the community, has dried up and the proud men and women of Tickle Harbor rely on Welfare and hope to get then through the days.
Their only hope is the “Big company”, a nameless corporation that wants to set up a refinery in their little town. This could save the town, the people, and their dignity. They have only one catch. They need a town doctor.
Enter Taylor Kitsch (John Carter, Battleship, Friday Night Lights) as Dr. Paul Lewis. After a mishap at the Canadian boarder he is forced to work at the town for a month. A month that the good people of Tickle Harbor must use to convince Dr. Lewis to stay on for good.
As I said. This is not a super original story. In fact it is equal parts The Full Monty (Minus the stripping), The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain (with 100% less Hugh Grant), Doc Hollywood (but good) and Northern Exposure (just not as long).
It is the characters, however, that make this tale worth watching.
Of course, Murray and Dr. Lewis and their budding relationship are fun to watch but also, all the quirky townsfolk are awesome. Murray’s best friend, the grizzled and matter of fact, Simon, brilliantly played by writer and character actor, Gordon Pinsent, is hilarious and not all he seems. Kathleen (Liane Balaban who played Sam’s Veterinarian girlfriend on Supernatural) is wonderful as the “not a love interest” to the young doctor. Mark Critch is excellent as the Bank manager and not too bright compatriot to Murray and Simon in their wild plan to woo Dr. Lewis to staying. All the characters, no matter how briefly on screen they appear, are wonderfully round and developed and you can truly relate to them all.
This film is lovingly predictable and I don’t know if it is my cynicism or just the culture I now live in that I was always waiting for “the other shoe to drop” and the whole plan to go to pot. But it says something about this film that I knew every thing that was going to happen and I still really enjoyed it. In the end every story out there has been told a thousand time before. It is HOW you tell yours and the characters that make up the story that is important.
I recommend this film. It is a good time. It is full of heart. I really liked it.
