Toby

During its existence, the Canadian film company Filmline International made several attempts to make mainstream Canadian films, "Toby McTeague" being one of them. The movie doesn't seem to have received much of a release anywhere, and seeing it quickly explains why. Certainly, the movie looks surprisingly slick for a Canadian film - obviously some serious money was spent on this project. Also, it's the rare Canadian movie to clearly be set in Canada (though the Canadian references are few and kind of soft.) But the script is a mess. There's barely a plot, and long stretches of the movie unfold with little to nothing advancing the story. Also, most of the characters are surprisingly unappealing, the most guilty being the title figure, who is shown to be stupid and/or irresponsible on a number of occasions. And we're supposed to be rooting for him! It also doesn't help that the electronic music score is both strident and inappropriate for this kind of movie. Kids in the audience will be restless, and their parents will be annoyed.

It is very easy to watch this movie and hate it simply because of how dated it is. There are many haircuts which look as if they've been ripped off from David Bowie, a computer program Toby uses to design his sled looks like an early MS Paint, and the music sounds like some guy just bought a synthesizer for the first time and thought it'd be a really good idea to use it for the entire soundtrack.

To hate it for only these reasons would be silly, though, because there are much more legitimate reasons to hate this move.

First, the acting needed a lot of work. Particularly Toby's little brother who just got very annoying. Although, I credit that little kid for delivering his cheesy lines with a straight face; lines that mostly consisted of terrible insults such as "You're a turkey!" Which brings me to my second complaint, the dialog was abominable. When a competitor is talking to Toby before a race, for example, he tries to psych Toby out by delivering the forceful one-liner "I heard your dogs are ugly, but man, those dogs are ugly!" In addition, the plot is dull and predictable, and the characters are stereotypical (except for the "wise" Native American, Chief Wild Dog, who just seemed to be insane).

The only highlight comes when the camera pans on a childish painting of an almost alien-looking woman, who turns out to be their dead mother, and afterward Toby's little brother explains how Toby is very artistic but he couldn't get this painting "quite right." Sadly, I don't think this was supposed to be a joke.

An excellent movie for boys (or girls) and their Fathers to see together. Filmed in Sainte Rose du Nord, Quebec. I saw it again recently, for reasons of nostalgia, for the first time since I was a boy. (I grew up in a similar community in Quebec - Sainte Catherine de Hatley - and it made quite a powerful impression then.) I was deeply pleased, however, to find it just as thrilling and enjoyable through adult eyes! Good old fashioned courage, honor, respect for elders and the great outdoors, a little romantic crush, and even a dose of life-lesson sadness are the general themes of the piece, and they are delivered without contrivance through an exciting and often humorous plot. The film moves at a distinctly human pace, and this too I found refreshing. In an age of mile-a-minute roller coaster family movies, Toby McTeague delivers a blast of fresh, cool air.

If you love the Forest Rangers or Rainbow Country, you'll love this wonderful movie from 1986...Splendid, exciting story, fantastic, Canadian actors, including the young teen-age boy, who went to become Detective Murdoch, in Murdoch mysteries...His teen-age girlfriend in the movie went on to become a CBC writer, tv show creator and producer...His aboriginal friend is now a Dr. in B.C., and his little brother in the film is a now a research egyptologist in Egypt! A very important piece of work for remembering Canadian life in more northern areas, and the 1980's in Canada.