New Waterford Girl

My friend sent this movie home with me and one night, in boredom, I decided to watch it. I was really blown-away! This is small-town life in a nutshell. The lead actresses are superb. Tara Spencer-Nairn is truly a joy to watch. The story is slow, but wonderfully compelling. I enjoyed it so much I had to watch it again! A great film for a lazy Sunday or for anyone who grew-up in a small town.

Allan Moyle, the director of "New Waterford Girl" captures the right atmosphere of a small town in Nova Scotia. He shows us how the people live in this isolated area. The life of the small village, with all its local characters, is presented by Mr. Moyle in a way that affects us into feeling for these people in that barren place.

The best thing going for this movie is the brilliant performance by Liane Balaban. She plays Moonie Pottie, a girl that wants to break away from the boredom of the town and go away to pursue her ambition. This young actress' face registers a lot of emotions going on inside Moonie's mind. She knows the only chance for her to get out of the mediocrity in which she lives is to become pregnant because invariably, those fallen girls are sent away to have their children.

Luckily for Moonie, she finds a friend in Lou, the rebel American teen ager who arrives from the Bronx to hide away with her mother and young brother. This is the only part that doesn't make much sense, but it's a diversion to the story that otherwise would be too confined to just the locals. Lou gives Moonie a confidence that the latter one didn't know she had. Moonie grows up helped by her friendship with the tomboyish Lou, who is too wise for her young age. Tara Spencer-Nairn does a wonderful job in recreating Lou Benzoa.

The film takes a while to click with the viewer, but it will stay in his mind for days after having seen it. The Pottie family is presided by Francis and Cookie. As played by Nicholas Campbell and the always excellent Mary Walsh, this family shows an inner strength, even at times of great crisis.

Andrew McCarthy is also seen briefly as the teacher that wants a better life for Moonie, who inspires her to break away from this small town. Cathy Moriarty plays, yet another, boxer's wife. She has nothing to do in the film.

This small movie will charm those willing to take a trip guided by the sure direction of Allan Moyle.

Clever, smart, modern coming-of-age pic made in Canada (surprise! a movie *this* cool made in Canada?)

What would it be like to grow up in the Canadian maritime provinces *and be different*?

Well the heroine Moonie (this a movie about girls! so it has some cute -- but not too cute -- guys too) *is* different. But so is everyone else. In fact, they're all too different, you don't really see the creeps, burnouts, basket cases that small-town life invariably throws up.

On the other hand, this *is* a movie. Moonie's family is loaded with characters and they're all cool ... sorta. Even the 'rents, in their own way.

Many characters are hilarious without losing their humanity. The whole town's Catholic and mostly Irish at that. Most situations are like real-life teenhood ... so sex is a predominant element. The setting is *very* real -- it's every backwater set-by-the-water hole-in-one that every teen longs to escape (sorry Rockford IL, but close enuf for IFMN).

Moonie's girlfriend, from New York (where Moonie yearns to go ... or any other place she's memorized the street map for), is a sweet and heavy-duty friend -- right outta Dazed and Confused -- who's the daughter of a jailed boxer and drives a rez car. In fact, substitute Indians in this movie and it'd work the same.

I won't go on and on, you get the driftwood. Fans of Linklater, Trainspotters, Depp and the ilk (like me) will enjoy NWG.

This movie inspired my trip to Cape Breton Island last year, because the scenery is so beautiful. I went to New Waterford and, suffice it to say, it is an even stranger town than the movie would make it appear. The movie was cute and melancholy, and Balban was pretty brilliant in the starring role. And movie with girls boxing ranks pretty high with me anyway.

I truly enjoyed this film. I'm usually not the type to like the girl coming to age films. But I loved this one probably because its not completely focused on the usual girl growing breast and realizing she's now a woman, story plot. Instead its about a girl that will do almost anything to get out of her small mining town. Including pretending to be a floozy and getting pregnant. I think the two lead actress (Liane Balaban and Tara Spencer Nairn)are great and I'm sure they will go far. If you like a good not so coming of age film check out this one I'm sure you will like it.