Con-Coz
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Sample: Title; rating (out of 4); principal setting; year of release; international co-producer (if any); cast; description; scriptwriter; director; content warning; running time.
LE CONCIERGERIE *
1/2 setting: P.Q.
(1997) Serge Dupire, Macha Grenon, Jacques Godin,
Michel Forget, Tania Kontayanni, Maka Kotto, Dorothee Berryman, David
La Haye, Caroline Neron.....An ex-cop turns private eye (Dupire) after
his partner's unsolved murder (Godin, in a small part) and investigates
the murder of a prominent author/entrepeneur, the chief suspects all being
inhabitants of a ritzy half-way house the dead man owned. Plodding thriller
is sometimes actually silly and suffers from too many bland performances
and belaboured delivery. Too many (interchangeable) suspects leads to endless,
repetitive scenes of characters being interrogated that never go anywhere.
Dupire's character remains a blank slate for the most part, despite what
should be workable characterization involving his murdered partner, the
break-up of his marriage (to Grenon), etc. La Haye is good as one of the
half-way house residents. Still, you can admire it on one level, since
the idea of doing a private eye thriller that's actually set in
Canada is almost unheard of these days from English-speaking filmmakers.
English title: The Haven. sc: Benoit Dutrizac, Michel Poulette (from
the novel Le Conciergerie des Monstres by Dutrizac). dir: Michel
Poulette. - sexual content, violence.- 107 min.
Le Conciergerie des Monstres, the novel, became simply Le Conciergerie.
LE CONFESSIONNAL *
* setting: P.Q.
(1995) (/France/U.K.) Lothaire Bluteau, Patrick Goyette,
Jean-Louis Millette, Richard Frechette, Francois Papineau, Marie Gignac,
Kristin Scott-Thomas, Billy Merasty.....Parallel stories of a man (Bluteau)
trying to find the real father of his adopted brother (Goyette) and flashbacks
to their parents in 1952 -- coinciding with Alfred Hitchcock filming "I,
Confess" in Montreal. Theatrical wunderkind LePage's film directorial debut
was praised by many critics, almost as if he'd reinvented the art form;
but it's hard to see what the fuss was about. Unenthralling film isn't
quirky or off-beat enough to pass itself off as an Art House novelty while
not being sufficiently strong in plot or characterization to work as a
simple drama. Muddled and dull. Won a number of Genie Awards. Once
more, white sub-titles on white backgrounds hurt some scenes. sc./dir:
Robert LePage. - brief female and male nudity.- 101 min. (video)
CONFIDENTIAL *
setting: USA.
(1986) August Schellenberg, Chapelle Jaffe, Neil Munro,
Tom Butler, Linda Goranson.....In the '50s, an American p.i. (Schellenberg)
investigates the disappearance of a reporter who was investigating a 40
year old murder trial. Pointless, boring tribute to fifties crime-dramas.
sc./dir: Bruce Pittman. - sexual content, casual female nudity, violence.-
95 min. (video)
CONNECTIONS *
setting: other
(1993) (/France) Jacques Penot, Teri Austin, Luca
Barbareschi, Gioele Dix, Steve Kalfa.....American reporter (Austin)
in Switzerland finds herself the target of a serial killer who meets women
through video dating services. Pretty awful slow-moving low-budget thriller.
sc: David Preston (story Preston and Edith Rey). dir: Patrick Jamain. 89
min. (video)
A Conneticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, the classic American novel by Mark Twain, was the (uncredited) source for the cable TV movie A Young Conneticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
CONQUEST *
* 1/2 setting: Sask.
(1998) (/U.K.) Lothaire Bluteau, Tara Fitzgerald,
Monique Mercure, David Fox, Eugene Lipinksi, Guyen Huya.....In the
run-down town of Conquest, Saskatchewan, the idealistic banker (Bluteau)
tries to keep the town going with extended credit and schemes -- like trying
to persuade a city woman (British actress Fitzgerald) whose car, and money,
has left her stranded, to take over the local hardware store. O.K. serio-comic
flick has a good cast (even Bluteau is ingratiating) but its forced whimsy
and heavy-handed pretentions keep it from entirely coming together as a
human narrative. Mercure received the Best Supporting Actress Genie. sc:
Rob Forsyth. dir: Piers Haggard. - casual male nudity, brief female nudity-
93 min.
CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE
(TVMS) * * * * setting: Man.
(1991) Michael Mahonen, Carl Marotte, Stephen Ouimette,
Ian Tracey, Jonathan Potts, Dawn Greenhalgh, James B. Douglas, Brooke Johnson,
Catherine Disher.....Fact-based story of the murder of Native teen
Helen Betty Osborne and the town that, for 16 years, wasn't interested
in helping the police solve the crime -- despite the fact that many knew
who had done it. What should be a schlocky, "based-on-the-shocking-true-story"
affair turns out to be a searing, riveting, disturbing drama, expertly
put together with a strong script and a great cast, especially Mahonen
as one of the troubled killers. Made-for-CBC TV, and subsequently aired
in the U.S. on CBS. Won 7 Geminis including Best Mini-Series, Screenplay,
Actor (Mahonen), Supporting Actress (Johnson) and Director. Four hours.
sc: Suzette Couture. dir: Francis Mankiewicz. - violence.- (video)
CONTROL *
* 1/2 setting: other
(1987) (/France/Italy) Ben Gazzara, Kate Nelligan,
Burt Lancaster, Kate Reid.....Fifteen multi-national people are placed
in a nuclear bomb shelter to see if they could survive it and each other.
Drama doesn't really start moving until more than halfway through, when
the characters fear it may no longer be just an experiment...but the real
thing! Given the subject matter, the film isn't as powerful as it should
be. European title: The Day Before. sc: Brian Moore, Jeremy Hole.
dir: Giuliano Montaldo. 90 min. (video)
CONVERGENCE *
1/2 setting: USA.
(1999) Cynthia Preston, Adrian Paul, Christopher Lloyd,
Rachel Hayward, Blu Mankuma, Johanna Lebovitz, Marie Stillin.....American
tabloid reporter (Preston) and her world weary partner (American actor
Lloyd) investigate various strange occurrences, while she herself experiences
weird mood swings and bizarre phenomenon. Supernatural suspense flick is
heavy on the brooding and the enigmatic, with a decent cast, and some effectively
moody scenes. Some will find its seeming episodic and meandering story,
and heavy handed "mysteriousness" (as the actors look pensive muttering
cryptic lines), a little silly, but if you're willing to forgive
it its obviousness, you can kind of be intrigued as to where it's headed...which
is the problem. Unlike, say, "Donnie Darko", where the scenes and the characters
can be involving on their own, here the scenes mainly exist to make us
curious about the solution -- and the umbrella solution doesn't really
answer why these specific events occurred. Beware movies where even the
characters sum up the story with lines like "There's nothing to understand"
and "It didn't make any sense..." Too bad, particularly as it had its moments,
and Canuck Preston got to play the, more or less, lead, as opposed to just
the love interest. a.k.a. Premonition. sc: Raul Inglis, Gavin Wilding,
John Fairley. dir: Gavin Wilding. - sexual content.- 93 min. (video)
COPPER MOUNTAIN (A Club
Med Experience) * setting: USA.
(1983) Jim Carrey, Alan Thicke, Dick Gauthier, Ziggy
Lawrence, Rod Hebron.....Two buddies, a nerd (Carrey), hopeless around
women, and a would-be jock (Thicke) arrive at a Colorado ski resort, the
latter hoping to enter the pro ski championship. This is the sort of movie
that begs DVD "special features" such as audio commentaries and behind-the-scene
features...'cause you just know there's got to be a story behind
how -- and why! -- it was ever made. It's a pretty bad, low-budget little
mess that, one suspects, was more intended as an infommercial for Club
Med. Unlike the teen sex comedy the premise might evoke, this is a cleaned
up affair with no sex or profanity. The story/character scenes are barely
developed, amounting to a minute or two of dialogue followed by three or
four minutes of concert footage (featuring the likes of Ronnie Hawkins,
Rita Coolridge, and Richard Champlin) and shots of mountain scenery and
downhill skiing, then another minute of dialogue, etc...all barely reaching
60 minutes! Canadian-born Hollywood superstar Carrey's first movie role
(and, ironically, one of his only "Canadian" movies) and he does some impressions...which
aren't all that good here, curiously (they're such exaggerated caricatures,
it's hard to even tell who he's impersonating). But Thicke gets credit
for delivering a convincing performance. American actor Gauthier (as the
club manager) played Hymie in "Get Smart". Though filmed on location in
Colorado, some dialogue is thrown in to indicate some of the characters
are from Canada! Creators Lee and Mitchell would do a number of sports-themed
movies (including Ski School) before moving
onto straight-to-video action flicks (that's Lee as the condescending helicopter
guide). In addition to the musical celebrities, real life sports figures
like Jean-Claude Killy appear. sc: Damian Lee, David Mitchell. dir: David
Mitchell.. 60 min. (video)
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(2004-) * * * Brent Butt ("Brent"), Gabrielle Miller ("Lacey"), Fred Ewanuick ("Hank"), Eric Peterson ("Oscar"), Janet Wright ("Emma"), Lorne Cardinal ("Davis"), Tara Spencer-Nairn ("Karen"), Nancy Robertson ("Wanda"), with Cavan Cunningham ("Fitzy"), Mark Dieter ("Paul"), Mike O'Brien ("Wes") .....Sitcom about the eccentric inhabitants of a sleepy small town in Saskatchewan, the fictional Dog River. Butt plays the laid-back manager of the local gas station and convenience store, and Miller plays the upbeat, big city gal who has taken over the coffee shop next door. Roberston plays his assistant, and Ewanuick his dim-witted best friend; Peterson his curmudgeonly dad and Wright his mother. Cardinal plays the local police chief and Spencer-Nairn his only constable. Cunningham plays the mayor, Dieter the local bartender, and O'Brien another local. Laid-back, but appealingly off-kilter comedy is decidedly more mainstream than a lot of recent Canadian-made comedies (Trailer Park Boys, The Newsroom) though, like them, eschews a laugh track. A kind of rural version of the U.S. sitcom "Seinfeld", which billed itself as "the show about nothing", in that often the plots revolve around the characters getting worked up about, or caught up in, inconsequential matters; also (again like "Seinfeld") believing "brevity is the soul of wit", the scenes are kept short, with any given episode intercutting three or more sub-plots. And it's become a rarity in Canadian TV -- a surprise hit. Stand up comic Butt, a Saskatchewaner himself, is clearly comfortable with the small town milieu (effectively filmed on location, rather than a stuffy Toronto or Vancouver sound stage). A bit rough around the edges, it's more cute or amusing, rather than knee slappin' hilarious, nonetheless, it can be that too (and might almost be too clever for its own good, with some sly gags and word plays that kind of take a moment for you to go, "oh, I get it"). And it has boasted some out-and-out hilarious episodes. A nice cast helps (Cardinal started out as the stand-out, but the rest of the cast has quickly caught up to him, particularly Miller). Definitely worth catching a few episodes to let it work on you and see if you can groove to its quirky wavelength (I know a few people who started out indifferent to it...and then became big fans after watching a few episodes). The line in the opening theme music about the runaway dog is a reference to an old Saskatchewan joke about how flat the praries are -- as in: "My dog ran away...I watched him go for three days." The series also features a different closing theme, but you wouldn't know that on network broadcasts as they override the credits to run ads for other shows (you'd only hear it when aired on the Comedy Network, or the DVD releases). Created by Brent Butt. Best bets: the one where Lacey's ex-boyfriend arrives in town; the one where the stand up comic comes to town; others. Half hour episodes on CTV. |
CORNERED *
1/2 setting: CDN.
(2001) Alex DeCosta, Lee Broker, Domenic Cina, Louis
Wrightman, Laura Hubert, Peter Cavalo, Mai Stanek, Patricia O'Callaghan,
Kenneth John McGregor.....Inner city drama about an ex-boxer (DeCosta)
who wants to pursue his dream of becoming a gymnast, but is being pulled
in other directions by his gambler uncle (Broker) who owes money to a gangster
and wants him to go back to boxing, and by his small time hood brother
(Cina). Low-budget drama is probably a labour-of-love for scripter/co-star/co-director
Broker, and does a nice job at times of evoking the nonchalance of the
criminal world, where crooks and non-crooks hang out at the same coffee
shops and hoods are on a friendly, first name basis with the very people
they might be strong arming tomorrow. It sputters and sparks occasionally,
but can't shake it's low-budgetedness, with weakish performances, and a
story that is familiar terrain and fails to pay-off satisfactorily. The
scene with Stanek, as the hero's girlfriend, reflecting on her past is
nicely done. Leslie Spit Trio lead singer Hubert plays Broker's girlfriend.
sc: Lee Broker. dir: Lee Broker, Robert Crossman. - partial female nudity,
sexual content.- 88 min.
COUNTDOWN TO LOOKING GLASS
* * * 1/2 setting: USA.
(1984) (/U.S.) Patrick Watson, Scott Glenn, Michael
Murphy, Helen Shaver, Nancy Dickerson, Eric Sevareid, Don Francks.....Dramatization
of a wargames scenario leading to nuclear war as covered by an U.S. news
program. TV personality Watson plays an anchorman. Includes "interviews"
with actual authorities. Wordy and cerebral TV movie, but frighteningly
real though, obviously, considerably dated since its emphasis is on the
Cold War. American actor Murphy later moved to Canada with his Canadian
wife, actress Wendy Crewson. sc: Albert Ruben. dir: Fred Barzyk. 115 min.
Counter Play, a novel by Anne Snyder and
Louis Pelletier, became the made-for-TV special The
Truth About Alex
Coup d'Etat, a novel by Edward N. Luttwa, became the movie Power Play (a.k.a. State of Shock, etc.)
THE COURAGE TO LOVE *
* 1/2 setting: USA.
(1999) Vanessa Williams, Gil Bellows, Cynda Williams,
Karen Williams, Diahann Carroll, Stacy Keach, Lisa Bronwyn Moore, Kevin
Jubinville, David La Haye, Eddie "Bo" Smith, Jean-Louis Roux, Susannah
Hoffman.....True story of Henriette DeLille (Williams), a free woman
of mixed black and white ethnicity in pre-Civil War New Orleans who bucked
the system, teaching slaves, organizing a medical clinic, while also romancing
a white, French doctor (Bellows), before eventually helping to start a
religious order, The Sisters of the Holy Family. Made-for-TV bio pic never
quite ignites, but is competently put together, providing a peek in at
a time and place. Though it's occasionally a bit choppy and confusing,
both in the historical nuances, and other things. Smith is particularly
good as the slave, Jacques. Williams (actress, singer and former Miss America,
not to be confused with another American actress named Vanessa Williams)
is O.K. but mayhap a tad old for her part. sc: Heather Hale, Toni Ann Johnson.
dir: Kari Skogland. 91 min.
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(1999) * * 1/2 Caroline Neron ("Pascale Laurier"), Colin Ferguson ("Andrew Chase"), Philip Craig ("Insp. Garth Endicott"), Jackie Burroughs ("Catlin Crawford"), with Gregory Hlady, Neville Edwards.....Espionage about a clean-cut anglophone Mountie (Ferguson) and a hot-headed francophone C.S.I.S. agent (Neron) who, when not fighting each other, investigate a mobster (Hlady) connected to international terrorism -- an investigation complicated by a mole in the Canadian government, and the fact that the Americans were pushing for a merging of security agencies. Craig and Burroughs played the heads of the R.C.M.P. and C.S.I.S. respectively. Clearly modeled after the murky, British-style espionage flick rather than the American model, this aired as a "three part mini-series" but was actually filmed as six hour-long episodes. Like a lot of recent Canadian shows, it was extremely slick and expensive-looking...but a bit shaky once you got past the gloss. The main characters just weren't that interesting, and the plot not sufficiently twisty or intriguing for a six hour epic. Worse, the characters accomplished next to nothing: they save no one, expose nothing, and make no arrests -- even the mole, the key question for the series, remained unrevealed (presumably indicating the producers were hoping it would be picked up for further episodes). Ironically, it seemed to prove the claim of the American characters...that the heroes are incompetent!!! The attempt to explore the national psyche and the Two Solitudes was more awkward and uncomfortable than insightful, relying on out-moded, at times even dangerous, cliches -- like having almost every angolophone character refer to the francophone with slurs like "frog" or a "frenchie", perhaps reflecting more the kind of people the filmmakers hang out with rather than true English-French relations. And the tendecy to portray Canadians as white, and Americans as black (and, therefore, multi-racial) seemed an uncomfortable throwback to '70s Canadian stereotypes. As well, the moral ambivalence, even nihilism, the series expressed also made it hard to become too involved. The end result is a watchable, occasionally interesting, time-waster...nothing more. Which is too bad, because the actors were good and the promise enticing. Created by Peter Lauterman. |
COVERT ACTION *
* * setting: P.Q.
(1987) Art Hindle, Wendy Crewson, John Evans, Richard
Comar, Doug Lennox, Tony DeSantis, Betsy Soo.....Mountie (Hindle) stops
the assassination of the premier of Quebec on the eve of the 1980 referendum
then, four years later, the case is mysteriously blown open again with
a couple of new murders. Witty almost tongue-in-cheek script coupled with
a nice performance from Hindle makes this made-for-CBC TV espionage thriller
a must. Intriguing, almost surreal atmosphere generated by use of video
tape and night-time filming. Nice music score. sc: Les Rose, Barry Pearson.
dir: Les Rose. - sexual content, casual female nudity.- app. 100 min.
COWBOYS AND INDIANS
* * 1/2 setting: Man.
(2003) Adam Beach, Eric Schweig, Currie Graham, Garry
Chalk, Gordon Tootoosis, Jack Blum, Michael Lawrenchuk.....Story of
the 1988 wrongful police shooting in Winnipeg of Native Indian leader,
J.J. Harper (Beach, in a small part); the police bungling and even cover-up
of their own internal investigation, and how it contributed to a sweeping
government investigation of how the police treat the Native community.
Made for TV docudrama (a co-production between the CBC and the Aboriginal
Peoples Television Network) is capably put together, with a surprisingly
sympathetic -- or, at least, empathetic -- portrayal of some of the police
(Chalk gives a particularly notable performance as the main overseeing
cop; he's not a good guy, but he's not quite a black hat bad guy, either).
Ultimately, though an important story, the end result is a decent TV movie,
nothing more. Schweig plays Harper's brother. At one point the characters
refer to the Helen Betty Osborne case...which was previously dramatized
as Conspiracy of Silence. a.k.a. Cowboys &
Indians: The Killing of J.J. Harper. sc: Andrew Rai Berzins (from the
book Cowboys and Indians: The Shooting of J.J. Harper by Gordon
Sinclair, Jr.). dir: Norma Bailey. 89 min.
COWBOYS DON'T CRY *
* * setting: Alt.
(1988) Ron White, Zachary Ansley, Janet-Laine Green,
Michael Hogan, Rebecca Jenkins, Thomas Peacocke, Joshua Ansley.....Story
of the troubled relationship between an aging, footloose rodeo star (White)
and his son (Ansley), who wants to settle down, after the death of the
boy's mother. Well done drama benefits from good dialogue and fine performances.
Won the Genie for Best Song. sc./dir: Anne Wheeler (from the novel by Marilyn
Halvorson). 96 min. (video)
COYOTE *
1/2 setting: P.Q.
(1993) (/France) Mitsou, Patrick Labbe, Thierry Magnier,
Claude Legault, Francois Massicotte, Jean-Claude Dreyfus.....Headstrong
boy (Labbe) meets troubled free spirited girl (Mitsou), they fall in love,
break up, reunite, have troubles, etc. Blah romantic drama suffers from
some bad dialogue and characters that never become interesting or appealing.
sc: Michel Michaud, Richard Sadler with Richard Ciupka, Louise Anne Bouchard
(from the novel by Michel Michaud). dir: Richard Ciupka. - sexual content,
violence, brief nudity.- 98 min. (video)
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