A Small Fortune

Saw this at a festival featuring Atlantic Canadian films, and in that context, ie rooting for the home team, I found this film to be quite a beautiful poem to specific place - rural PEI. The cinematography is terrific - I felt the pull of the sea and the way of life the main character loves. The film maker lays out a number of great questions - what would you do if you were poor and found bag of money? What's the difference between enforcing the law and maintaining the peace? But the film maker doesn't explore these questions in any depth. Instead it turns into a conventional and cliched crime caper. I agree with the other reviewers that the main character makes way too many dumb decisions for a guy who doesn't seem that dumb, and there are too many contrivances for the sake of moving the pilot along. A missed opportunity - in the hands of a stronger writer this could have been a rich exploration of some compelling questions.

Earning his money raking kelp from the shores a man finds money, much money. Despite bestest intention he does what - let's be honest - everybody does two weeks after finding a treasure.

The movie provides us an unbelieving look into modern small town life without being dramatising, showing you the unworldly in the middle of the world who hold up labour and value heritage, with some effords at times, but eventually sucessful. A neat afternoon movie.

Pour gagner sa vie en ramassant du varech sur les côtes, un homme trouve de l'argent, beaucoup d'argent. Malgré ses meilleures intentions, il fait ce que - soyons honnêtes - tout le monde fait deux semaines après avoir trouvé un trésor.

Le film nous offre un regard incrédule sur la vie moderne des petites villes, sans dramatiser, en nous montrant les gens du peuple au milieu du monde qui défendent le travail et la valeur du patrimoine, avec quelques efforts parfois, mais qui finissent par réussir. Un bon film d'après-midi.

This is writer and director Adam Perry's second-only full length feature film, and although far from perfect, for a newb filmmaker, it's better than some disappointments I've seen lately from seasoned filmmakers.

Perry's directing was actually impressive, to the point you'd think it was a Coen brothers' production. The story did have some plot and technical issues, and the pacing was a little slow, but the screenplay was tight, original and very well laid out and shot. A little more action and suspense would've gone a long way, and I would've loved to see more of the beautiful PEI landscapes.

All casting and performances were spot on, although I felt old man Omer was a little too much. The cinematography was great, and the score amazing, especially for a low budget indie B-film. It's a very decent 91 mins one-time watch, especially considered this was a novice low budget film. It's a well deserved 6.5 rounded up to a 7/10 from me.

Acting is a bit so-so (especially Andrea Bang who is utterly terrible and tends to ruin every scene where she opens her mouth and 'acts').

The plot is pretty predictable.

Cinematography was ok.

I'd say maybe watch it while you fold your laundry as there is nothing here to keep your attention.

3/10.

Every now and then a smart little caper film with intriguing twists and turns pops up out of nowhere to pleasantly surprise its audience. This is definitely NOT that film.

The story has an auspicious start, with a hook that offers promise for a real thrill ride. But it fizzles out quickly, thanks to a dumb script peopled by dumb characters.

Every single character in this movie makes the most idiotic choice in every situation. Apparently the writer-director couldn't think of clever ways to drive the story, so he opted to have them bungle whatever they were doing at every critical turn.

The main character is the biggest moron in the movie. He makes moves so dumb that his story should have ended with his painful demise halfway through the second act. The only thing that kept the story going is that the two villains opposing him are also incredibly stupid.

If you're in the mood for a stupid-fest, there's plenty to feast on here.