What do you get when you transport Tim Riggins and King Menelaus to the east coast isle of Newfoundland to interact with Moonie Pottie and other Tickelhead locals? You get an honest and heartfelt translation of Jean-François Pouliot’s La grande séduction (2003) that makes for Don McKellar’s The Grand Seduction at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.
It is a universal story with a
classic, comic presence that easily translates to suit the economic and
cultural position of Newfoundland as we know it, explained McKellar during a post-screening Q&A at TIFF.
The humourous and heartwarming film
is set in a small fishing community whose residents line up every month to cash
their welfare cheques only to go on day by day. When the opportunity to build a
petroleum repurposing facility in the town surfaces, it means the town has a
chance to restore their job market and their individual dignity. When the mayor responds half-heartedly by
sneaking off in the night to take a job in the city, protagonist Murray French
(Brendan Gleeson) is hit hard by this escape, especially considering his own
wife leaves him to take a job in St. John’s. He loves Ticklehead. It’s his home
and he believes whole heartedly in its people and its potential, which is why
he’ll do just about anything to keep the town alive.
Murray steps up as mayor and takes
on the task of convincing the big wigs that Ticklehead is the best place for
the new plant. The only catch? There
must be a resident doctor, and Ticklehead has been searching to fill this void
for over eight years. Conveniently, the displaced
mayor is working as airport security at the airport when a Dr. Paul Lewis (Taylor
Kitsch) comes through hungover and triumphant, trophy in hand after a cricket
tournament complete with cocaine, some of which he has hiding in his carry-on
luggage. When Dr. Lewis attempts to
bribe Ticklehead’s previous mayor with free plastic surgery, he ends up
agreeing to spending a month in Ticklehead as their resident doctor to make up
for the airport drug slip.
Murray and the locals become
obsessed with humourously attempting to rig the town towards every tiny interest
Dr. Lewis may have in hopes of convincing him to stay. The film’s ability to take viewers on this
journey, torn between truth and necessity, is an uplifting, emotional, and a positively
relatable experience.
The chemistry
between Gleeson and Kitsch is earnest, encouraged by the written relationship
they portrayed. It also wouldn’t go
without mentioning Liane Balaban who charmed my 15 year old heart by reappearing
in this east coast tale much like her role in New Waterford Girl (1999) which
was also set in Newfoundland. To add that Toronto local Matt Watts and
Newfoundland local Gordon Pinset were organic additions in the parts they
played, and played well, would only be a start to the commending performances
by their fellow townspeople; a true character study with the province of
Newfoundland as their biggest and brightest star.
“We had to make
sure that Newfoundland was the other character in the movie,” Gleeson explained
during the Q&A after the screening. He added and emphasized that, coming
from Ireland, “it was twelve thousand times better” than he’d imagined.
Kitsch felt the
same about the experience. “I love
[Newfoundland]… It was by far the best location I’d ever shot in and I’ve shot
in a lot of locations,” he said as McKellar piped in, “Like Mars…”
It was clear,
listening to McKellar, Kitsch, and Gleeson, that their chemistry spread
beyond the screen and is perhaps one reason the film is so enjoyable to watch.
When asked how Kitsch chose an independent Canadian film like this one, he replied in jest, “Little do you know this was a 125 million dollar budget. All shot it studio. All green screen.” He added, “It was just the right fit. It’s rare to laugh out loud when you’re reading script,” and this laughter surely translates well to the screen.