The Grand Seduction
Dir: Don McKellar
2014
****
Don McKellar has never really been favoured by film critics, he may have lost a fair bit of money with his films but I think he's got a unique and charming way of making movies. The Grand Seduction contains that charm I'm talking about and it has it by the bucket load. It's an odd one for sure, but once I realised the film was set in Newfoundland and not in Ireland as I first thought, I eased into it fine. Although I still don't understand a Canadian being interested in Cricket. You can't really ask or blame McKellar for certain misgivings as this is a remake of a French-Canadian film and apart from the language, the changes are few. It's the little quirks and the lovely characters that really make the film though, Taylor Kitsch has come under much criticism in the past, I feel sorry for the guy and don't want to add to it further but I'm afraid he is the only weak link in the overall production. Although any actor playing that straight role would struggle to compete with such a wonderful ensemble, lead by the ever brilliant Brendan Gleeson. It's far from perfect but it has a strange pull, a je ne sais quoi and a certain oddity about it that I found somewhat irresistible.