Movie Review: ‘The Grand Seduction’

John Thomas
Brendan Gleeson and Taylor Kitsch in The Grand Seduction.

As a boy, Murray French awoke before dawn and followed his father and their neighbors down to the fishing wharf. He watched as they boarded their small boats and set out for a 14-hour day of fishing. Returning home for the evening meal, his father felt proud of another day’s work, the prosperity he brought to the community and the life he was able to provide for his family.

Now as an adult, Murray French played by Brendan Gleeson, joins his neighbors in a queue at the post office to collect welfare checks and head on to the bank to cash them. At the end of his day he feels cranky and frustrated. The charming town of Tickle Head, Newfoundland and Labrador has fallen on hard times–no more fishing means no more prosperity. The mayor has a plan to entice a petrochemical company to build a factory in Tickle Head, but there are two catches. The first one is: the town must have a resident doctor–presently there is no doctor. Secondly the town must provide 150 workers for the plant–there are only 120 residents.

With no hope in sight the mayor resigns and moves away which is when Murray takes charge. The low population number he can “fix,” but the doctor situation requires a little more conniving.

A tiny bit of cocaine is discovered in the luggage of a young plastic surgeon returning home from a cricket match. As it turns out, the security agent finding the cocaine is the former mayor of Tickle Head who will overlook this transgression if the doctor agrees to establish his practice in Tickle Head for a month. The surgeon, Dr. Paul Lewis (Taylor Kitsch), readily agrees.

Murray has 30 days to seduce Paul into signing a five-year contract to remain the town’s resident doctor. He plans to be a mentor/father figure to the unsuspecting young physician. Murray must first discover as much about Paul as he can and then coerce the townsfolk to participate in his scheme. The only person who will not be part of his plan is the post mistress, Kathleen (Liane Balaban)–she will not act as Paul’s love interest.

The doctor likes cricket, so of course the townsfolk, who actually prefer hockey, will be cricket fans. In addition, Paul’s new home is suddenly “cocaine-friendly.” There is no mobile service in the area so Paul is forced to use a landline which Murray taps into. Telephoning a friend, Paul laments the fact that there are no Indian restaurants in Tickle Head.

That evening Paul dines at a local restaurant to find an Indian dish is the special of the day. The “phone-tappers” discover Paul has a problem with his girlfriend – she’s been seeing his best friend for the past three years.

Sad and confused, Paul laments to Murray the realization that people have been lying to him his whole life. It began with his unknown father ending with his current cheating girl friend. He feels alone and can’t believe in or trust anyone any longer.

Murray now has second thoughts about what he has been doing the last few weeks and begins to feel very guilty. What should he do next, or better yet, what is the proper thing to do?

Directed by Don McKellar (Credits: Through Black Spruce, Sensitive Skin – TV series), The Grand Seduction is a “must see” presentation that runs 118 minutes.

johan@beachcomber.news

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