Memorable, crazy movie

Just what I expected

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

This is a remake of the French Canadian film Seducing Doctor Lewis (2003), original title La grande seduction, directed by Jean-Francoise Pouliot, filmed in New Brunswick. The current film is set in the fictional fishing village of Tickle Head on the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The film's opening details 'the way it used to be', with hard work, enough rewards, and life with a purpose. Then the movie jumps to the present, where all the able-bodied men are on welfare from the government. The sense of purpose, at least, has been lost. Our protagonist, Murray, has been collecting welfare checks and losing self-esteem for some time. The mayor has a tentative deal with an oil sludge reclamation company, which will go forward provided the town has a resident physician. The mayor takes a job in Toronto; by arranged chance, he intercepts a physician, Paul Lewis, and blackmails him into coming to Tickle Head for a month. While Paul is on the way, Murray and company spruce up the town to give Paul a good impression. The lies do not end there, not by any means. Will their plan actually work?--------- Some of the bits are funny, such as the locals trying to learn cricket post haste. The principal actors gave good performances. The sentiment at the end was carried off fairly well. 6/10

I know that this movie is an English language remake of a movie from Quebec, though I have not seen the original movie, so I can't compare the two. But I do have the advantage of being able to judge this remake on its own terms. I wasn't expecting much, seeing that this was a Canadian film funded by the government, and such movies are usually pretentious bores. But I can report that there are some good things about the movie. For starters, it looks very slick and polished, and can stand up head to head against the production values of Hollywood movies. The acting is also pretty good, with everyone giving warm and likable performances.However, there are some problems with the movie. The script has a number of flaws that I am puzzled that no one saw before shooting started. For example, it's not made clear how the doctor got from being caught with cocaine on him to being sent to this small Newfoundland village. His budding romance with a woman in the village also seems half baked and unfinished; at the end of the movie, I didn't know where it was going or even if it got anywhere.Such script problems might have been small flaws had the biggest problem with the movie not existed, that being the comic portion of the movie. Now, I am glad the movie didn't play out in an unsubtle and in-your-face manner akin to Hollywood, but it goes too far in the opposite direction. The movie is more "cute" than laugh out loud funny. Though I did smile a little, I would have liked a few laugh out loud moments sprinkled throughout.In the end, the movie is so-so. It could have been better. Still, compared to most Canadian films being made, it is watchable. There are a lot more worst cinematic ways to spend your time.

Review: I really enjoyed this comedy about a small village who needs a doctor to build a factory so the residents can get jobs. After a cricketer/doctor gets caught at customs with cocaine, he gets bribed to become the village doctor but the village have to try there hardest to convince the doctor to stay. The storyline was very well written and you can't help but laugh at the extents that the village goes to, to convince the doctor that there place is the best place in the world. There's a great mixture of characters which keep the movie interesting and the chemistry in the whole community was a joy to watch. The storyline does go a bit far in places, but that's what made it amusing from beginning to end. Its a light hearted comedy which has a deep moral to the story and you can't help but feel for the village who really pull together to save there community. Enjoyable!Round-Up: I'm really becoming a fan of Brendan Gleeson who has done some big films in his career, like Gangs Of New York, Troy and Edge Of Tomorrow, but he still sticks to his roots by doing small budget films like Calvary, The Guard and this movie, which he was great in. Taylor Kitsch hasn't had such a great career, especially after starring as the main character in the awful John Carter and Battleship was also not that great, but I did like him in Savages. Hopefully he will do a good job of the new True Detecive series but he does have a hard act to follow from Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey. As for this film, the director done a great job with the storyline and the authenticity was spot on.Budget: $12.7million Worldwide Gross: $4millionI recommend this movie to people who are into their light hearted comedies about a small town who needs a doctor so they can build a factory which will supply them with jobs. 6/10

Just a few comments: I may have missed it, but I swear I didn't hear the word "Newfoundland" (or Canada?) once in the whole film. The constant references to Newfoundland in the reviews etc., couldn't have come from anyone but Canadians: geography-deprived US audiences could have easily mistaken the setting for coastal Maine or New Brunswick, England, Ireland, Scotland or wherever. In a similar vein, keep in mind that the accents of Newfies, Irish, cockneys, Scots and Aussies are all just one big blurry brogue to the average US movie and TV viewer-- just "funny English accents". And therefore, not really geography-specific.Also, I would have thought that Pinsent and company would have corrected Gleeson's US-style pronunciations at times, such as his use of the word "prawject" for "project" (Canadians universally say "proh-ject"). Also, in references to the "town" of "SAINT Johns" it should have been pronounced "S'n' JOHNS" (emphasis on "Johns") not to be mistaken for the "town" of SAINT John in New Brunswick (emphasis on "SAINT").But a fine movie. A little more geographic specificity, and more attention to language issues for our US audiences would have been nice. Good for sales, too.BB