I discovered this film in a bargain bin on Blu-Ray with its sequel and I was immediately excited. This was my kind of film. Coming of age, Canadian, early 70's, and set in Toronto. I adore Toronto!! I was very excited to watch it. The film is extremely sad. I know that's the point but it really does bog you down with a sense of desperation and struggle so they definitely deserve kudos for capturing that hopelessness of these two men struggling to make it in a new world for them. I suppose what I expected was more Canadian-isms and more Toronto. Really the film could have been set practically anywhere with only a few fleeting shots of the beautiful city. The director uses many, many tight shots and close ups, I suppose to capture emotion but I feel like he loses out on showing some of the city they are trying to survive in. I found the characters very unlikable as people and really wasn't rooting for them in any big way. I found Peter to be pompous and obnoxious and the kind of person I would avoid in real life. The film desperately needs a hero, even an everyman, to connect with. I'm thinking that perhaps this absolutely captures the generation when it was made but watching it now it loses some of that steam significantly.
Doug McGrath is good in the role if the point was to make him unlikable. I already mentioned what I thought of Peter but I kept waiting to find some redemption in him and there just isn't any. The best I can say is that he is definitely sad and forlorn and he makes you feel that emotion throughout. Paul Bradley is his best friend and he does well but his character follows Peter through just about anything for no reason. He is absolutely being dragged down by Peter's desperation and that makes him unlikable as well but I definitely wanted him to succeed more than Peter. The two of them together have decent chemistry though I feel like Bradley didn't get much depth to his character. Legendary Canadian actress Jayne Eastwood is also decent as Bradley's girlfriend and then wife. She doesn't get a lot of character development either but she serves her purpose well. The three of them together are good...not great...but definitely good.
There is a possibility that when I think longer about this film or perhaps watch it again in the future that it might grow on me. It isn't poorly made at all, but its the furthest thing from what I would consider entertaining. This is a film about real life. Whether they're looking for work, struggling in their dumpy apartment, stealing to survive, browsing the record store, or just sitting smoking looking very forlorn this is a very sad existence to watch and it is the furthest thing from a happy film. The entire movie is simply sad, one of the saddest stories I've ever seen. Donald Shebib has a distinctive style in capturing this emotion and he does it very well. The gritty, indie style of the film will appeal to some and even the very gritty and unlikable leads might win you over in some way but for me this was a little bit of a miss and disappointing in more than one ways. I will watch the sequel...perhaps right after this...but its morbid curiosity at this point. I need to know if redemption finds these characters 40 years later. 6/10
Doug McGrath is good in the role if the point was to make him unlikable. I already mentioned what I thought of Peter but I kept waiting to find some redemption in him and there just isn't any. The best I can say is that he is definitely sad and forlorn and he makes you feel that emotion throughout. Paul Bradley is his best friend and he does well but his character follows Peter through just about anything for no reason. He is absolutely being dragged down by Peter's desperation and that makes him unlikable as well but I definitely wanted him to succeed more than Peter. The two of them together have decent chemistry though I feel like Bradley didn't get much depth to his character. Legendary Canadian actress Jayne Eastwood is also decent as Bradley's girlfriend and then wife. She doesn't get a lot of character development either but she serves her purpose well. The three of them together are good...not great...but definitely good.
There is a possibility that when I think longer about this film or perhaps watch it again in the future that it might grow on me. It isn't poorly made at all, but its the furthest thing from what I would consider entertaining. This is a film about real life. Whether they're looking for work, struggling in their dumpy apartment, stealing to survive, browsing the record store, or just sitting smoking looking very forlorn this is a very sad existence to watch and it is the furthest thing from a happy film. The entire movie is simply sad, one of the saddest stories I've ever seen. Donald Shebib has a distinctive style in capturing this emotion and he does it very well. The gritty, indie style of the film will appeal to some and even the very gritty and unlikable leads might win you over in some way but for me this was a little bit of a miss and disappointing in more than one ways. I will watch the sequel...perhaps right after this...but its morbid curiosity at this point. I need to know if redemption finds these characters 40 years later. 6/10