Year of the Carnivore

Sammy Smalls (Cristin Milioti) works undercover security for a grocery store. Dirk (Will Sasso) is her vigilante boss. Her parents (Sheila McCarthy, Kevin McDonald) are over-protective. She is 21, alone, and dresses like a boy. She has a limp and body issues from earlier cancer. She falls for musician Eugene Zaslavsky (Mark Rendall) but their attempt at sex results in her uncontrollable laughter. He wants to be just friends with the sexually inexperienced Sammy. She decides to gain more experience and work on her ticklish problem.

This is a quirky indie trying to play with some inappropriate fun. It's not really that funny but Cristin Milioti is awkwardly charming. The story is quirky but there are few laughs. The story gets a bit awkward at times. Cristin's big doe eyes and bewildered mannerisms keep this interesting. This needs work to get more jokes into the script.

I attended the World Premiere of "Year of the Carnivore" at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. This deliciously decadent work can be described as "Juno" meets "Shortbus," although it's certainly not as explicit. Director Sook-Yin Lee was one of the stars of that latter film and is somewhat of an icon in her native Canada. The film rests on the capable shoulders of lead actress Cristin Milioti, a relative unknown, and her co-star Mark Rendall, a terrific budding character actor who has been in several of my favorite festival films of the past few years.

What do we really know about sex, when do we learn it, and how do we learn it? That sums up "Year of the Carnivore" and, as Ms. Lee explained eloquently in the Q&A, are questions she still asks herself. It's a quirky love story which is surely, more than anything, a showcase for the broad talents of Sook-Yin Lee, who wrote the script, directed, and composed much of the soundtrack's music.

I watched this, by accident last night, and thoroughly enjoyed it. When I turned to it, I didn't know anything about it, but quickly realized that it was a Canadian film. There is some weirdness in how Canadians see sex/love, and this film captures that in spades. There is nothing clearly explicit, except for a couple of naked buttocks. However, the scenes of sexual exploration are invariably just slightly off centre and very funny. Does Sammy learn the difference between sex and love?

The acting is excellent, and I enjoyed the quirky characters and pacing of the film. In typical Canadian fashion, the denouement is surprising, but ends hopefully. Sook-yin Lee, with the delightful Cristin Milioti as Sammy Smalls, makes this a gentle film with a crunchy satisfaction to it. A surprising delight.