The Grand Seduction

"We have one month to convince our good doctor to sign long term." The town of Tickle Cove is starting to collapse economically. The residents are living on welfare checks and watching everyone they love move into the big city. When they have a chance to secure a contract for a factory for the town they need to do whatever they can. The first thing they need is a doctor. Dr. Lewis (Kitsch) comes to the harbor for a month and local local mayor Murray French (Gleeson) enlists the help of the town to do anything that will make him stay. I have liked pretty much anything that Brendan Gleeson has done. This one is no exception. One of the biggest pet peeves I have about movies is when they're too predictable. Almost from the beginning you are able to tell what will happen and how the movie will end. This is one of the few exceptions where that doesn't hurt the enjoyment of the movie. The writing and comedy is what keeps you watching and laughing the whole way through. It's very entertaining watching the lengths the towns people go to to impress the doctor. The stuff with cricket is my favorite. This is a movie that may not be for everyone but I liked it and I recommend it. Overall, a movie that is very predictable but for once that doesn't hurt the movie. I recommend this but again it's not really for everyone. I give it a B+.

This film is brilliant. If you're tired of the same old fare that the American Comedy giants make then see a movie that doesn't resort to shock value or follow the one-up trend. See a movie with heart and substance that has a point and makes you feel good about the world. In "The Grand Seduction", The jokes range from brilliantly subtle to absurdly silly and are designed to poke fun at everyday life in a small coastal town.

It really is a shame that this film wasn't given more of a chance in theatres, and it's shocking that people can find something bad to say about it. I, however found this film refreshing and I hope more Canadian style comedies are made, even if they need to be stolen from the French Canadians!

Tickle Head, a harbour in Newfoundland, has 125 souls who live mostly off welfare cheques now that the cod is gone. After his wife and even the mayor leave for work in St John's, Murray (Brendan Gleeson) thinks up a grand scheme to seduce a doctor to come live in the village. An oil company is looking to build a high-tech plant in the area, but one of the requirements is that the town have a doctor. To get the plant, they also have to get more people and get the cash together for a bribe.

They force young Paul Lewis (Taylor Kitsch) to come to the village and then try their hardest to please him so that he'll stay. However, it turns out the doctor is into jazz and cricket, cannot fish at all, and has a fiancée back home. Will their plan work?

This movie worked for me for a number of reasons. Gleeson holds the movie together with a superb performance. The scenery (filmed in Trinity) is gorgeous. The same could be said for Taylor Kitsch, who exudes magnetism and amiability in every scene. He can obviously act but I suspect he was just playing himself in this movie.

Inevitably much of the gentle and sometimes ribald humour revolves around the eccentric characteristics of the rural villagers. I don't know how accurate the bumbling Newfie hick thing is, but Gordon Pinsent and the rest played it to the hilt.

The movie went too far a few times but regardless I enjoyed it. It's worth about 7.5 but I'll round it up. It's nice to see a non-Hollywood movie like this for a change.

This is a gentle movie, filled with gentle humour that brought smiles of delight to every one of our group of six. The scenes of the Newfoundland coast were breath taking. A great little story about a community struggling for survival. Another reviewer was dismayed by all of the citizens lining up for their welfare cheques. An exaggeration yes, because it is a film, but the key message he missed was how noble and honest, despite their desperate scam, the people of Newfoundland are. When I took my family for a vacation in Newfoundland we were mightily impressed by the scenic beauty but even more impressed by its people and their genuine interest in others. It made us proud to be Canadian and this film makes me proud of the Canadian film industry.

Set in Newfoundland, one of the most beautiful places on earth, the views are constantly captivating. If you haven't been to Newfoundland, i'd truly recommend it. You will see sights you've never seen before.

The story Grand Seduction is cute, the acting sweet and endearing. The laughs were plenty. I went with my wife, and I honestly haven't seen her laugh so much in years. Each joke was just a little human insight.

In a world of movies filled with monsters and vampires, or traveling into the future to survive war and save the world....it was refreshing to see a movie like Grand Seduction about real people...just living real lives.

I'd recommend Grand Seduction as the perfect date night film.