Geraldine's Fortune (2004): Dir: John N. Smith / Cast: Jane Curtin, Mary Walsh, Peter MacNeill, Matt Frewer, Sheila McCarthy: Canadian comedy about one's love for game shows as well as the fortune's in life that we often take for granted. Jane Curtin plays Geraldine who works with her sister at Sobeys but one day she receives opportunity to appear on a game show called "Bring Home the Bacon." Story becomes routine as her friends suck up for support when one aspect of the game show relies on phone call references. Conclusion is surprising and convicting as truths are revealed. Despite the fact that the game show sequences are cheesy but director John N. Smith hits a raw nerve with the humour. He establishes himself creating unique Canadian filmmaking and backed with terrific lead performances. Curtin is hilarious as Geraldine as she struggles to maintain her selfish friends as well as contain enthusiasm for the opportunity at hand. Mary Walsh as her blunt sister steals the film with hilarious one-liners. Peter MacNeill plays Geraldine's less than supportive husband. The one performance that doesn't work is Matt Frewer as the game show host who disappoints with what appears to be a bad Jim Carrey impersonation. While the film has fun with game show themes, it also brings forth truthful attitudes. Film exposes the false trust in a fortune that never lasts. Score: 7 ½ / 10
4 Reviews
Poor-scripting ruins potential 'sleeper' comedy
canuckteach22 August 2006
Rented DVD on promises of light comedy with a plain-jane (pardon the pun) Canadian town backdrop, featuring Jane Curtin, a fabulous SNL player (but very under-rated). This satiric story had elements of fine comedy: quirky, large-as-life characters, and problems/conflicts lifted from almost any (somewhat dysfunctional) family with a 'small-town' setting. Sadly, there is a fine line between 'satiric' and 'mean-spirited'. Interactions between the characters become increasingly toxic, aided by airing of deep-rooted conflicts and a free flow of booze.
The language becomes profane and nasty. This is no longer light-hearted fun with a message and a mix of family drama -- this is just unpleasant. We turned it off. Who to blame? Well, the Scriptwriter puts it on paper - the Director tries to bring it to life. It looks like they just don't know their stuff.
Oddly, British producers seem to pull off this kind of humor with apparent ease, allowing older actresses and less-glamorous performers to flesh out some real characters, and tell a great story -- in short, to act. Why isn't it done on this continent very well?
The language becomes profane and nasty. This is no longer light-hearted fun with a message and a mix of family drama -- this is just unpleasant. We turned it off. Who to blame? Well, the Scriptwriter puts it on paper - the Director tries to bring it to life. It looks like they just don't know their stuff.
Oddly, British producers seem to pull off this kind of humor with apparent ease, allowing older actresses and less-glamorous performers to flesh out some real characters, and tell a great story -- in short, to act. Why isn't it done on this continent very well?
A Very Worthy Comedy
gbbetts11 April 2005
To begin with, this is a funny movie. It's different than you'll find of any other comedy you've seen and that alone makes it special. Set in a small city in New Brunswick, the story follows a group of wise-cracker women as they plot their vaguest fantasies.
The nice thing about the movie -- beside Mary Walsh -- is the spirit of the characters. They are poor, they are cynical, but yet they are also quick to laugh and joke. There is something uplifting about their camaraderie, flawed and filled with poison as it may be.
It's interesting to compare this movie to the play on which it is based, Les Belles Souers by M. Trembley. The play is also filled with quick wit, but there's a heaviness to it that puts the "social commentary" into overdrive. Despair weighs heavy on the dialogue, and each character embodies a sustained fascination with depression. Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful play -- sort of in the spirit of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. The plot twists take you further and further into a murky world of unstable social politics.
Geraldine's Fortune has most of the same dark elements, but the stress is on the surface and the wise cracks and the humour. This allows the audience the greater freedom of engagement. In other words, John Smith doesn't want you to become depressed, but yet he also reminds us that humour is often the inverse of sadness. The hopes of the women for the big money prize from the (hilarious) game show reveal their self-doubt. But the cleverness of the movie, and the way it is made, leaves us wanting Geraldine to not win the prize, and to help the really important problems and people in her life in a more meaningful way.
Now for Mary Walsh. She's simply great in this film. A total dynamo. Compared to other films, like New Waterford Girl, Walsh has finally found a script that works for her personality. She's a quick witted, fast talking, eloquent jokester laden with barbs all viciously aimed at her loved ones. This is the character Walsh can do, not some mourning Maritime mother, and she does it well.
The other actors are solid and charming, though somewhat derivative. They serve the plot well. Jane Curtin stands out as Geraldine if only because her smile hinges between simplemindedness and lunacy -- reminiscent of Katherine O'Hara in My Mom's a Serial Killer. In any event, she's solid too, and if your up for a light and comfy movie with some genuine and unique humour, here's your movie.
The nice thing about the movie -- beside Mary Walsh -- is the spirit of the characters. They are poor, they are cynical, but yet they are also quick to laugh and joke. There is something uplifting about their camaraderie, flawed and filled with poison as it may be.
It's interesting to compare this movie to the play on which it is based, Les Belles Souers by M. Trembley. The play is also filled with quick wit, but there's a heaviness to it that puts the "social commentary" into overdrive. Despair weighs heavy on the dialogue, and each character embodies a sustained fascination with depression. Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful play -- sort of in the spirit of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. The plot twists take you further and further into a murky world of unstable social politics.
Geraldine's Fortune has most of the same dark elements, but the stress is on the surface and the wise cracks and the humour. This allows the audience the greater freedom of engagement. In other words, John Smith doesn't want you to become depressed, but yet he also reminds us that humour is often the inverse of sadness. The hopes of the women for the big money prize from the (hilarious) game show reveal their self-doubt. But the cleverness of the movie, and the way it is made, leaves us wanting Geraldine to not win the prize, and to help the really important problems and people in her life in a more meaningful way.
Now for Mary Walsh. She's simply great in this film. A total dynamo. Compared to other films, like New Waterford Girl, Walsh has finally found a script that works for her personality. She's a quick witted, fast talking, eloquent jokester laden with barbs all viciously aimed at her loved ones. This is the character Walsh can do, not some mourning Maritime mother, and she does it well.
The other actors are solid and charming, though somewhat derivative. They serve the plot well. Jane Curtin stands out as Geraldine if only because her smile hinges between simplemindedness and lunacy -- reminiscent of Katherine O'Hara in My Mom's a Serial Killer. In any event, she's solid too, and if your up for a light and comfy movie with some genuine and unique humour, here's your movie.
Now titled Geraldine's Fortune or is that the other way around?
kaya11119 September 2004
I was just in the first ever audience for this film and it was a pleasure to be a part of that. It was a clever comedy that made use of Jane Curtin's talents in the title role. Backed up well by her zany family and friends - Geraldine (Deen) is off to play in a TV game show and has to appoint 3 little piggies among her friends and family. Deen has become a celebrity in town and all are after her for how she'll share the wealth if she wins. In the meantime she deals with a "fashionable" teenage daughter and jealous family (and a mysterious missing sister) and friends suffering their own difficulties (Sheila McCarthy plays Tina who is caring for an aged mother-in-law with some very hysterical scenes). It was a movie that you wondered early on if there would be more than the odd chuckle but as things moved along it ended up being a fairly funny, feel-good movie despite some heavy subject matter.
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