Les mauvaises herbes

Bad Seeds is a French-Canadian comedy movie that doesn't necessarily convince with great jokes but rather with awkward situation comedy, interesting characters and wonderful winter landscapes.

The movie tells the story of a stage actor with gambling debts who escapes Montreal via a bus trip and ends up in the administrative region of Abitibi-Témiscamingue in Western Quebec. He encounters a grumpy farmer who illegally grows and sells weed in order to make enough money to make the childhood dream of his estranged son come true before a terminal illness kills him. Knowing each other's secret, the two men decide to work together but are soon disturbed by an unhappy Lesbian teenager who verifies the farm's electricity meter and accidentally discovers its secret. The teenage girl is kidnapped and forced to stay with the two men. After some initial misunderstandings and tensions, the trio actually starts appreciating working together but their luck soon starts to turn when the teenager falls in love with a local clerk, when the farmer gets sicker every day and when the loan sharks the stage actor tried to run away from end up tracking him down.

On the positive side, the movie's script is quite creative and at times unpredictable. There are constantly new surprises around the corner leading to hilarious situation comedy and some poignant black humour as well. The three main characters are fleshed out and surprisingly realistic as they have their positive and negative sides and offer heroic actions but make dumb decisions as well. The movie's conclusion even has some depth and offers some food for thought. It certainly doesn't offer a conventional happy ending but a very satisfactory conclusion nevertheless.

On the negative side, some of the jokes could have been funnier and delivered with more energy to work better. The film has a few lengthy dialogues here and there, especially in the first third. The movie only starts getting truly intense when the teenager gets involved.

Anyone who likes French-Canadian cinema and creative comedy movies that walk off the beaten path, should give this movie a chance. I watched it on television in its original French version with English subtitles which is perfectly fine. Bad Seeds certainly is a vivid change from the usual stereotypical Hollywood comedy movies. It isn't a sequel, prequel, remake or anything else. And it doesn't try to offer some shallow sociocritical message like so many other contemporary comedy films. Bad Seeds is refreshingly unique.

I loved this film. I write dark humor myself and I couldn't do any better. The story has elements of style that are incredible to see even if they appeared in a big Hollywood production. They do everything right from beginning to end. The story resolves the only way it can when the dark protagonist falls off the twig. This reminds me of so much European and British dark humor it makes me proud to have come from Quebec. The characters are true to their Quebec setting and yet nothing about this film is cliche. I watched this in French with English subtitles, but I speak enough French that I could have enjoyed it without them.

Loved it. C'etait ben fun! When I write my next screenplay, I'll call on these guys to make the film.

What a surprisingly delightful film. It unfolds, always slightly off balance,from one unexpected development to the next. It starts off as a kind of crime farce, with a very funny Chaplinesque chase that turns into a scene from a Beckett production with Alexis Martin in full 18th century garb walking down a snow clad rural Quebec road in mid winter. Boulanger's eye for the sublimely absurd is impeccable and he serves it up effortlessly over and over. The actors are terrific and the writing is both hilarious and, finally, extremely emotional in a restrained way. On top of that, the cinematography is brilliant both in its scenic composition and in its luscious colour palettes. I had no idea what to expect from this film and was thinking perhaps it was just a Quebec version of Homegrown. But it is far more sophisticated and complex in its ambition and its final accomplishment. Highly recommended.