[Movie Review] The Grand Seduction (2014)
Director: Don McKellar
Writers: Michael Dowse, Ken Scott
Runtime: 113 min
Main Cast:
- Taylor Kitch as Dr. Lewis
- Brendan Gleeson as Murray French
- Liane Balaban as Kathleen
- Gordon Pinset as Simon
- Anna Hopkins as Helen (voice)
- Rhonda Rogers as Samantha
Review: by Anthony and Lee
We did not actually know much about The Grand Seduction going into it. It sounded good, so we saw it.
The Grand Seduction was not exactly what it sounded like. Rather, it was about a small harbor called Tickle Cove where Murray French (Gleeson) had lived his entire life. Hard times had fallen on the harbor, and most of its small population was living off of welfare checks from the government. Reluctant to move away, the people resorted to trickery and bribery to get a large oil company to build a factory in their harbor and provide much need jobs for the community. Unfortunately, in order to get the factory, they needed a doctor, and that was where the “grand seduction” of Dr. Lewis (Kitch) came into play.
What We Liked:
The acting was pretty good. The actors who portrayed the residents of the harbor, along with Brendan Gleeson, were very convincing. It was not difficult to believe they were a bunch of small-town, crotchety people who were willing to do almost anything in order to not have to change their lifestyles.
The story itself, though not what we expected at all, was very interesting. We loved watching all of the poorly conceived plots being hatched and carried out. The scenes in which they are eavesdropping on the Dr. Lewis’s phone calls were particularly funny, along with the scenes of Dr. Lewis “finding” money.
The writing was high quality, and it was certainly very funny. We particularly liked Simon (Pinset), and his relationship with Murray. The scene in which Murray climbs into bed with Simon and his wife was great, but the best conversation of the movie may have been when Simon told Murray that he would definitely not visit town.
Also, it was a beautiful setting, and the harbor seemed like a wonderfully peaceful place to live. The people enjoyed the simple pleasures of life, and we could appreciate that.
What We Didn’t Like:
As funny and interesting as the story and the characters were, the movie definitely dragged along. It had a very slow pace. Even the scenes in which all of the action was taking place were almost dull.
Also, we did not agree with Murray’s reasoning and opinions. He was very chauvinistic and stubborn. Although we enjoyed seeing him change little by little over the course of the movie, his original faults remained.
Finally, it was a little bit predictable. We could tell what was going to happen before it ever happened, and it was not particularly original.
Summary
The Grand Seduction was not what we had anticipated, but it was a good movie. It was both funny and interesting, but it did plod along at a pretty slow pace.
Images courtesy of IMDB
