H2O

As someone who is very fond of politics- especially Canadian politics- this film deeply troubles me.

It is the story of how the country can be bought and sold so easily. It is a warning. While extremely unlikely, this could happen. It uses characters very deliberately based on previous Canadian icons (Trudeau being the big one) to hit close to home. These people have already been in power and we never thought anything overly terrible of what they did while they were in power. This film- in a very Isaac Asimov way (though, obviously Asimov was brilliant and Gross, while a good writer, cannot compare) shows us how close we are to our greatest fears.

One day, the prime minister dies in a canoeing incident and after running and winning leadership of the party his father lead, his son takes power and starts pushing through some very aggressive legislations. Later, we find out that his father's death and that of the woman who was with him were suspicious in the extreme and we start to see little by little what's really going on, though the ending is a total shock. It is hard to describe without giving it away, so suffice it to say it uses past Canadian political experiences (the Free Trade agreement, the War Measures Act, Black October) to show how close we are to losing it all.

With outstanding direction (actually making Parliament Hill look sexy), great acting from Paul Gross, Guy Nadon and Martha Henry and a shocker ending, this is well worth watching. Especially for Canadian political junkies like me.

I have never been a fan of "made for TV movies" or "mini series", but lately I've found myself looking more Canadian shows to watch. This movie certainly was that. If you don't know much about the Canadian (or British) Parliamentary democracy then you might be a little lost.

I'm not a movie "critic" by any means, but I found this show kept my interest over two nights and four hours. Well written, acted, and never predictable.

I would recommend this movie to any Canadian interested in Canadian/American politics, and even to anyone else curious about our political system. Maybe PBS will show it some day.

Seeing Paul Gross,after his role in Due South,is quite a change. This film H2O is a political thriller set in the near future. Water,not oil,is the main subject of this film. Our neighbour to the south,United States,is running out of it,so,they would love to get their hands on ours. In this film,the prime minister dies in a boating accident,which turns out to be murder. Slowly,the solicitor general discovers their is a plot,to merge Canada into the United States. He tries to prevent this happening,with tragic results. I sent a couple of DVD's to a couple of friends in the US of this film. One person did not care for it,the politics was to confusing. The other person did enjoy it,the political background of the film,confusing,so he goes to the library and gets a few books about Canada and it political setup. I am now waiting for the next film,H2O: Trojan horse.

This movie is 3 hours long. It has a cast of tens of thousands (at least it feels that way.) I think Sebastian Spence was about the only Canadian actor _not_ in it. I exaggerate a tad. Much of it appears to have been filmed in the Canadian parliament buildings in Ottawa, 24 Sussex Drive (the PM's residence), military bases and other places that would have required endless bureaucratic pandering to get permission to film. The movie overuses some of this footage. "It cost us a bundle, and you are damn well going to appreciate it."

It deals in more substantial way than you would expect with Canadian political themes: separatism, water, bullying by the USA, fear of terrorists, NAFTA, political union with the USA.

The dialogue is quite wooden. I think it was all written by one person. It needs to be re-written to be more idiosyncratic for each character. The mother with her drinking is a little too one-dimensional. But I think that was partly deliberate. Everyone LIES, especially to the public. Because they are not good liars, they are unconvincing every time they open their mouths. It is thus quite a cynical look at political intrigue and under the table deals. Every public speech says the exact opposite of what the character said in private earlier.

One of the strangest things about the movie, there are no clear good guys and bad guys. Your loyalties shift back and forth. Some people you just can't decide. Others you know are bad, but can't figure out who they are working for or what they are attempting to accomplish with their mayhem.

The relationships and true motivations are MURKY, worthy of the machinations in an English murder mystery.

I am pretty sure I will watch it again, hoping with foresight to figure more of the movie out.

I also wondered just what facts form the framework of this story. It feels like a historical reconstruction (though it takes place in a fictitious 2004). The smug, power-crazy, plump, young Prime Minister played by Paul Gross bears a strong resemblance to the actual P.M. Stephen Harper. He even has the same articulate reverence for lying.

Having just watched this on tape I have to was both shocked and in awe at the magnitude of this mini-series.

We know for a fact that the American water supply is dwindling, and their first port of call for a refill will be north of the border, so why not make a movie about it ?

As political junkie, I can tell you yes a candidate can be elected in a by election, have a leadership race, win it and then become defacto PM, unlikely but possible [which is the basic premise for this whole movie].

Acting was excellent, sets were above average, some scenarios was jaw droppingly plausible, especially the playing of Quebec and First Nations off each other. The idea of solicitor general as being a national hero was a bit of a stretch. However, once the war measures act was dropped he was about the only person in the country that could have done what he did. The mis-use of absolute power under the act played equally in to the hands of both sides here, the sight of tanks on parliament hill was scary enough.

I think this is a plausible future, not much different than the millions of Austrians who were a little shocked when Germany annexed them prior to WW2.

The scenario I would like to see played out would have been what next ? The annexation of Canada by the USA would lead to what ? I envisioned WW3 with Europe and the UK coming to the aid of Canada and a conventional WW3 being fought right here in North America.