Oh Canada

A wonderful non-linear reflective which captures the evanescent nature of memory and profundity of regret. Beautiful performances by all. Evocative soundtrack by Matthew Huock. Excellent.

A sadly disjointed memoir, anchored by two great performers, Richard Gere and Uma Thurman, but weighed down by a montage of mismatched scenes and subplots. It was like Schrader randomly opened the book and shot whatever was on that page. Then, running out of time or money, I suppose, left it to the editor to piece it all together. As voiceovers go, this is a good example of how to *not* use voiceovers. The movie lacks the discipline that any good filmmaker must exercise in the execution of the work. It leaves us with no one to root for (except, perhaps, Emma) and no sense of who anybody really was.

Paul Schrader's adaptation of Russell Banks' novel Foregone now renamed Oh, Canada is barely 90mins long but it felt much longer. Ostensibly a film about Richard Gere's dying documentary filmmaker Leonard Fife reflecting upon his life on camera, where he's trying to reveal something less than savory about his celebrated past as a draft evader during the Vietnam War, he's your typical unreliable narrator where we're never sure whether those flashbacks we're watching are true or not. Jacob Elordi plays a younger Fife in the flashbacks but sometimes Gere plays that too. The use of different camera style, aspect ratios, colours and even voiceover POV point to something profound or meaningful, but it feels so deconstructed and intangible, I was never able to grasp what exactly that is. The end result is a stylized but confusing mess, a waste of its cast and perhaps not the best film to finish a super long flight and a 5-movie marathon.

This is an incoherent mess of a movie. Whatever noble intention it may have had at its conception was lost through extreme incompetence of filmmaking. I feel sorry for the families of these filmmakers who had to sacrifice their own relationship to the truth in order to give this a positive review in a misguided demonstration of support.

I respect Schrader's attempt at de-lionizing himself (perhaps even his whole generation?) but this isn't much more than a series of incomplete thoughts and ideas.

Oh, Canada is a fascinating portrait of a dying man. It has many fine qualities but the fractured narrative makes for a somewhat incomplete film. The film centres on documentary film maker Leonard Fife, who is dying of cancer. In his last days he invites film makers Malcolm and Diana to interview him for a documentary. He slowly recalls his remarkable life and many secrets are revealed. In flashbacks we see that he had relationships and children in his younger life in the USA. before fleeing to Canada, mainly to avoid the draft. The documentary is an opportunity for Fife to confess to the lies from his younger life, before his Canadian celebrated career. This is a very cerebral film featuring an egoless performance from Richard Gere as Fife. Celebrated director Paul Schrader makes complex films about troubled men and this is no different. However I felt the flashbacks were very disorderly making the film feel fractured at times. So a flawed film, but one featuring interesting qualities.

Boring. Could not finish watching it.

Muddled and no clear story of the characters. Found it frustrating to watch.

This is an exceptional film because it is an honest and unvarnished account of the ugly sides of human nature. Richard Gere is a revelation as the unglamorous and dying Leo Fife, who unexpectedly yet unapologetically confronts the negative impact of his self-centred life choices upon those closest to him. Intelligent, compelling and uncompromising.

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