De drôles d'oiseaux

"Rare Birds" tells of a hapless Newfoundland restaurant owner/cook (Hurt) whose remote seaside restaurant is suffering from insufficient patronage due to a lack of advertising. A quirky friend (Jones) hatches a plot suggesting Hurt report the sighting of a nearly extinct duck to encourage bird watchers to flock to his eatery thereby stimulating his business while he's being stimulated by thoughts of his comely waitress (Parker)...etc. A fun and earnest flick which trudges through it's wry tale relying on understated tongue-in-cheek humor and quirkiness for entertainment, the film includes other salients such as a home made submarine, 22 pounds of cocaine, some much coveted sheet lights, and an RCMP SWAT team for additional substance. Overall, "RB" is a warm hearted little flick for those who don't mind off-kilteredness and the absence of the usual Hollyweird appurtenances. (B-)

In this day and age of fast paced, overstylished movies, comes this tale of a chef and his close friend, who tries to save his buddies deserted restaurant, by inventing the sighting of a near extinct duck near the location to attract customers.

While this is going on, there is still time left to work on a recreational submarine, in a basement which is filled with cocaine and the most strange flat lamps.

Hurt is acting his guts out as the clumsy, near nerve wrecked chef who's lost in an absurd world. And there is romance too.

Well, it's a long time ago I didn't see a movie which reminded me of another one, and this alone is quite an accomplishment. A lovely little movie, quite serene and if you ask me highly underrated pearl of creative cinema.

The haute-cuisine Newfoundland restaurant (with its fine wines) called "The Auk," owned by Dave Purcell (William Hurt), is almost out of business because there is no business. One night his friend, Alphonse "Phonce" Murphy (Andy Jones) asks him over to his house for dinner, where he meets Phonce's sprightly sister-in-law Alice (Molly Parker), from Gull Tickle. After the meal, Phonce takes Dave to his shed through a secret tunnel that is lit up with sheets of light hung up via a clothesline (Yuri Tsvetkov illumination system). In the shed, Phonce shows Dave a 26-pound carton of cocaine that he found at sea. Phonce wants to know what it's worth, but Dave advises him to throw it into the ocean. But when Dave snorts it, he tells Phonce that it is good quality. Phonce then shows Dave his 1,200 pound two-man prototype RSV (Recreational Submarine Vehicle). So these story lines set up the rest of the movie.

At a local library Phonce convinces Dave to claim that he saw an extremely rare bird (Tasker's Sulphureous Duck) at Push Cove (near Cape Spear NHS) close to the restaurant. Such an assertion will attract birders to the area, and since they have to eat, will provide customers for Dave's business. The ruse works as birders rush to the bay to get a glimpse of the duck. The restaurant is extremely busy. Dave, though, gets into the habit of snorting cocaine. He feels guilty when a birder plunges off a nearby cliff in a fruitless search for the rare duck. Dave convinces him otherwise, and then enlists his aid in launching his prototype sub.

Just when the long-awaited romantic interlude between Dave and Alice apparently commences, his long separated wife Claire announces that she will be arriving from Washington, DC. Then the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) show up! What will Dave do? Will he dump the coke? Will he hang onto the girl from Gull Tickle? Will the duck ruse last? What does the RCMP want? One thing is for certain, this writer did not need to see Hurt's naked butt! Another thing, the subplots generally detract from the main story. And Dave's attraction to the coke was pointless. By the way, the Taskers Sulphureous Duck is non-existent. And the Yuri Tsvetkov illumination system is probably unreal.

On positive notes, the cinematography is excellent: the movie was filmed off the rocky and rugged shores of Newfoundland. Hurt is good as usual, and Jones is comedic. Red-headed Molly Parker, a Canadian gal, is so appealing that she brightens up the entire film. She is a scene-stealer. I do not see her attraction for the far-older man, however, except for his food-preparation expertise. By the way, the restaurant is named after the Great Auk, the flightless Atlantic sea bird that was unfortunately hunted to extinction in 1844. "Rare Birds" is really harmless fluff, lighthearted entertainment that does not really go anywhere. Yet it is entertaining, and this author did not waste time in watching it.

William Hurt has a failing restaurant in Newfoundland and an estranged wife in Washington D. C. He and friend Andy Jones -- who's building a small submarine -- discover a lot of cocaine in Hurt's wine cellar. After they establish it is good cocaine (so to speak), Hurt starts a rumor that a type of duck thought extinct has been spotted in the bay his isolated restaurant sits on. Suddenly people start showing up to look for the duck and eat, and his first hire is Molly Parker.

It's a very low-key comedy, as the heat develops between Hurt and Miss Parker, Jones' submarine gets an outing, and some guys who are obviously not birders set up in a Winnebago near the restaurant.

Hurt has always been a puzzle to me as a movie star -- and, according to reports, to himself as well. He moves slowly from inert, depressed lump to hopeful lump and I can see the emotional journey, but it's the situations and fog-bound images that held my interest. The movie itself is a paean to the polite eccentrics of Canada.

Much commentary I have read on this film compares it to "The Shipping News" because it is set in Newfoundland. I would like to stress, however, that this movie is in no other way like "The Shipping News". Thank goodness. "Rare Birds" tells the story of Dave, a struggling restaurant owner who is recently separated from his wife. In order to boost Dave's spirits, and his business fortunes, his crackpot friend Alphonse (or "'Phonse") cooks up a scheme to lure bird watchers to the area. Meanwhile, Dave begins to fall in love with 'Phonse's sister-in-law. This is a charming film due in part to the beautiful scenery of the Newfoundland coast (which was so drearily washed-out in "The Shipping News"). The real gem of this film, however, is Dave's friend, 'Phonse, the inventor who sees conspiracies everywhere and always makes sure to have a "Plan B". I definitely recommend this film for some light, entertaining fare. I gave it a 7.