La pêche aux déserteurs

I'm a fan of Canadian movies and I loved this one. It's another underrated gem from the good souls at Salter Street. I'm tired of Canadians whining about how they hate our movies; there are a lot of good ones, mostly those that have never been seen but still very very good. I wouldn't try to group this one in as one of the best Canadian movies you'll see or even use it as an example, but it's worth watching if you like our sense of humour. I for one can't see anything wrong with this movie. I'm sorry that it's not a 'Big Labowski' or 'Dr. Strangelove' to you (both movies I didn't really care for, and no I'm not trying to compare the three) but I guess what Frank Shuster said was right: Canadians really do need to learn how to laugh.

First let me say that this is not the great Canadian movie (that would be Jesus de Montreal) but it does entertain. It was made by the same studio which makes "This Hour has 22 Min" and "Codco" (non Canadian readers will not have a clue what I'm talking about)and a similar type of humour exists here. The basic story of a small fishing village attempting to break off from Canada and become a nation is a comment on the real problem of Quebec independence. The acting is not the best (Gross and Cherney are OK) but some of the references are so canuck they jump out at you. At one point two nuclear missiles are being used to force the governments hand. One is aimed at Mt. Rushmore, because the Americans would get after the Canadian government and force a resolution. The other is aimed at what they believe is a Canadian landmark of similar importance...Canada's Wonderland (for those who don't know it's an amusment park).

Not the greatest, but worth a watch on a rainy day..

This movie has its odd moments, but it's got fun performances from Chaykin (totally in his element), Gross (somehow making "unwashed" look sexy), and Virieux (whose character provides a somewhat saner counterpoint to the other two). Only in a Canadian film could you achieve such seriousness about such silliness, or vice versa, and still manage to throw in dark humor and good-looking leads. Moments of seriousness intrude; insane mobs and philosophizing, not-quite-kosher ministers; government-vs.-the-little-people; nuclear submarines and spontaneous combustion abound. You get to enjoy many of your favorite Canadian character actors with cameo parts ("hey! I've seen that guy somewhere!"), and by the movie's end, you find yourself wanting to don plaid and go catch some fish.

Having had the misfortune to sit through this entire film, I can honestly say it was a complete waste of time. While the premise of poking fun at Canadian/American relations seems to have a lot of promise as a satire, the movie ultimately fails with its weak plot and over-exaggerated characterizations. One almost gets the impression that the writer simply wiped his rear end on a piece of paper and called it a screenplay.

None of the characters in "Buried On A Sunday" are interesting, and I felt incredibly embarassed for all of the actors in this self-indulgent movie such as Paul Gross and Maury Chaykin. Such a waste of talent...but then again, perhaps they simply needed the income.

Thankfully, "Buried On A Sunday" isn't indicative of all films in Canada as there have been a number of good ones made since then (e.g. "The Sweet Hereafter", "Cube", "Lost & Delirious", "Mambo Italiano", "Ginger Snaps", "Spider"). If all films were like this one, then the future of the Canadian film industry would definitely be in jeopardy.

This is one of those strange but wonderful little Canadian films that just blows its US compatriots out of the water. An odd combination of comedy and drama, this commentary on geopolitics and influence peddling is just simply beautiful. And that includes the very scenic Paul Gross as well as the writing, location, and acting of everyone involved. I highly recommend this film to anyone who has a sarcastic sense of humor about politics and politicians, no matter what their nationality.