Publication: Take One
Publication Date: 01-JUN-05
Delivery: Immediate Online Access
Author: Amsden, Cynthia
Article Excerpt
IF THERE IS SUCH A THING as a comedic Zeitgeist in this country, we are experiencing it now. Canada is known for its art-house fodder. "Introspective, dark, moody, personal, artistic films," says Seaton McLean, president of Alliance Atlantis. And lest we forget the other hallmark of Canadian film, the world knows us for weird sex.
Suddenly, as if springing forth fully formed from the brow of Athena comes not one, but two Canadian comedies striving for the unholy glory of being successful mall movies. Blue plate specials. From Paris to Palookaville, on a non-stop trip, and dammit, we are going to be commercially triumphant--for a change.
Men with Brooms, the Paul Gross fiesta, and Red Green's Duct Tape Forever, Steve Smith's Red Green extravaganza, are slated to hit the theatres within weeks of each other this spring. Go ahead. Say it. There's no such thing as a coincidence. Both Gross and Smith are leapfrogging to the big screen from television. Both Smith and Gross are new to the feature--film environment, and both had debut filmmaker epiphanies which--accompanied by forehead slaps-sounded like, "Ohhh, this is what it's all about." So, if not a coincidence, then what is this? One could reasonably answer: it's about time.
It's late November 2001, and Paul Gross emerges into the sunlight from the bowels of Serendipity Point Films where he is in post-production on Men with Brooms, a Robert Lantos production, playing with the harmonics of his ensemble cast. Walking around Rosedale, he squints attractively. Asking for a synopsis is almost unfair, but at the same time offers a homeopathic remedy to his morning's stress--cure like with like. Gross exhales his storyline: "There are four guys who used to be a good curling team. Their former coach dies. They gather at the reading of his will, which lets them reconnect after much time apart. A codicil in the will states that the coach's cremated remains are to be placed in the handle of a curling rock. They reunite as a team and win the trophy known as the Golden Broom, which no local team has ever won before."
At the same time this conversation is taking place, Steve Smith is in Florida, impersonating a Canada goose. The storyline of his movie, Duct Tape Forever, directed by television veteran Eric Till, equals Brooms in its absence of "art." When Possum Lodge is taken to court after a big-shot executive's limousine is damaged in the Lodge parking lot, the boys are ordered to pay $10,000 within 10 days--or they lose their beloved Lodge. Red's nephew, Harold, suggests the upcoming Duct Tape Festival in Minneapolis-St. Paul, which is a competition to create something made of at least 50 per cent duct tape. The boys of Possum Lodge create a large Canada goose and decide it's good enough for third prize, $10,000. Hooking the goose to the Possum van, Red and Harold go on a road trip to take the goose to market.
High-concept used to mean high art; radical and different. Now it refers to the length of the pause after the pitch. Do they get it? The Brooms pitch, "It's a curling...
NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.
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