October Gale

I was wondering why this movie with a such a good cast like Patricia Clarkson, Scott Speedman and Tim Roth managed to have a mere 5.1/10 (current rating when writing this review)

But when I started watching it, it started to make sense

In the first half hardly nothing of substance happens and there are plenty of everyday scenes of Patricia Clarkson reading a book or remembering a romantic moment with her husband or fixing with the wood- pile for the fireplace and stuff like that with very little dialogue as she's by herself in the beginning

Tim Roth doesn't show up until the last 20 minutes, he's supposed to be menacing but comes off as bored

The plot itself also doesn't make a lot of sense to me, it's extremely simple really but the characters relations to one each other are daftly written, and it's boring, extremely slow and could have easily been cut down 30 minutes and you wouldn't have missed anything

Some movies are just tough to sit through. 'October Gale' is one of them. You really need the patience of a saint to get through it. Director/writer Ruba Nadda creates scene after scene of absolute nothingness that the audience is expected to sit through and hope whatever's coming is worth the wait. It's not. The premise seemed interesting enough and with a different script could have made for a really exciting, interesting movie. Instead we are left with this.

Even a late cameo from the always great Tim Roth isn't enough to save things. You could tell Nadda had banked a lot on this performance by Roth being the Savior of his film but when you give his scene a moments thought you realise just how irrational and senseless the whole thing is. Patricia Clarkson in the lead role gives a real snoozefest of a performance and Scott Speedman never really gets out of first gear either. He seems as bored by the script as the audience will be. I don't think Nadda ever really settled on what he wanted the film to be. One second the characters are falling in love, the next they're fighting for their life, the next they're discussing the meaning of life. There's a lot going on here but sadly none of it's good.

An injured Adonis turns up at the doorstep of a beautiful older widow. Sounds cute, right? Well it is. This movie is meant for an older crowd (I'd say 30+), because there is not much action or activity. It's a gloomy movie, about people who are grieving over their respective tragedies. Nevertheless, it is very artistically done. There are so many beautiful views in this movie that around 88% of the scenes would make expensive paintings. I assume that the low rating has to do with how slow the movie feels to those who require acrobats and car explosions. October Gale doesn't have those visual effects because it is realistic fiction that was meant to be artsy and romantic. I highly recommend this movie to art majors and professors.

Premiering during a special presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), October GALE is a dramatic thriller that's too devoid of tension to be considered thrilling and far short of emotional and relatable characters to be considered dramatic.

It's a shame because the opening sequence of sweeping Parry Sound long shots and Steadicam shots of Helen (Patricia Clarkson) opening and cleaning the family's vacation cottage offered a promising segue into what appears to be (on the surface), a study in normative bereavement with a murderous twist. Likewise, the film's setting is a beautiful contradiction of comfortable isolation that quickly dissipates as the story's nonsensical and improbable choices become too incredulous to be believable.

Grieving the loss of her husband (played in silent flashbacks by Callum Keith Rennie) in a wild storm the previous year, Toronto doctor Helen Matthews (Clarkson) decides to return to her family's isolated cottage in an effort to move on. After single-handedly opening up the warm and comforting home in Georgian Bay, Helen begins the arduous task of sifting through and removing some of the mementos accumulated during their 32-year marriage.

The visual and aural planes of this transition from acceptance to perseverance are well crafted; the non-diegetic musical score gives way to diegetic empathetic sounds of the bay that feel crisp and renewing. Fortuitously so considering Helen shortly thereafter comes face-to-face with an unexpected and mysterious gentleman (Scott Speedman) crawling and bleeding on her floor with a gunshot wound. After treating his wound and grabbing her rifle, Helen waits for the stranger to wake up and when he does, Will is vague about the attack and about his life thus far until local handyman Al (Aidan Devine) decides to pay Helen an unexpected visit. Will relents and reveals that he had spent time in prison for manslaughter after a bar-fight and that the guy's father 'is not going to stop until he's killed me'.

As the storm gains momentum outside, Helen agrees (stupidly I might add) to allow Will to stay in her home as they lazily prepare themselves for Al and the gunman to return. The script here is utter wish-wash: writer/director Ruba Nadda (INESCAPABLE) fails to build any suspense and tension for the ensuing action causing it to fall flat, it fails to explain how Helen's appears to be a survivalist doctor who's also a crack shot, nor the circumstances of Will's incarceration and Helen's inconceivable trust in a man she just met.

Clarkson and Speedman should however, be applauded for their performances: extracting every nuance they could from their two-dimensional characters to at least be creditable. Overall, if 'it's OK' are the only two words I can come up with after 91 minutes, it's probably safe to say you might want to wait to watch it on video.

You can catch me on my handle @TheSachaHall or at The Hollywood News.

Dr. Helen Matthews (Patricia Clarkson) is alone at the family cottage after the death of her husband James (Callum Keith Rennie). She finds a wounded stranger named Will (Scott Speedman). She pulls out a bullet. They're trapped as a storm approaches. Local handyman Al Tessier (Aidan Devine) arrives but Will claims that he's a killer. Tom (Tim Roth) is coming to kill Will.

There is a good tension early on between Clarkson and Speedman. The audience can't trust Speedman and neither can Clarkson. The tension is broken with the kiss. The premise crumbles as Clarkson gives away her trust too quickly. It's impossible to know the truth at that point and the movie stumbles. These are great actors but they can't act their way out of this muddled writing. Filmmaker Ruba Nadda seems to have recently fallen back on TV directing. The directing is fine if unspectacular but the writing has issues.