Director Don McKellar showcases the pastoral charms of Canada’s eastern coast in the crowd-pleasing comedy The Grand Seduction. Set in the tiny and financially ailing fishing village of Tickle Cove, Newfoundland, long-time resident Murray French (Gleeson) leads the charge to seduce a young Dr. Lewis (Kitsch) to become a permanent resident in the town so it can land the contract for a new factory and save the community from economic ruin. The cosmopolitan Dr. Lewis, who spends most of his days giving Californians plastic surgery, is initially dismissive of Tickle Cove’s pleasantries but romance soon blossoms for the big city boy as he begins to welcome the change of pace.
The film also stars familiar Canadian faces like veteran Gordon Pinsent as a grizzled homebody and This Hour Has 22 Minutes alum Mary Walsh. Gleeson brings panache to an amusing script from Michael Dowse and Ken Scott, even though some of the jokes fall flat.
It’s also refreshing to see Kelowna’s own Kitsch in quieter role after such box office bombs as John Carter, Battleship and Savages. The Grand Seduction is unavoidably saccharine at times but the sentimentality is forgiven thanks to stunning cinematography from Douglas Koch, which highlights the majestic beauty of the region’s unique landscapes beautifully. Credit should be given to the movie’s writers for crafting such likeable characters and for McKellar’s keen direction, which balances the material’s folksy lore with real world problems. Despite flaws, the film works mainly due to Gleeson’s magnetic charisma and Kitsch’s likeability.
