Weekly round-up

>> Bland Ice Cube, Franco comedians gone T.O., a Quebec femme fatale and a delightful dog

by MALCOLM FRASER

There are two interesting things—and that’s a stretch—about the latest Ice Cube vehicle. The first is that it’s both a sequel (to the road-trip comedy Are We There Yet?) and a remake (of the 1948 Cary Grant flick Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House). The other is the place it marks in Cube’s career metamorphosis, from threat to American society (he was never political per se, but a major-label release called AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted was a fairly provocative gesture back in the day) to purveyor of harmless family entertainment.

In this installment, Cube’s protagonist Nick finds his New York apartment crowded with his wife and her two kids. When she gets pregnant with twins, he decides to move the family to the country. They’re talked into buying an old mansion by Chuck (John C. McGinley), a real estate agent who also turns out to be the local contractor, home inspector, Lamaze instructor and general bee in the Cubic bonnet.

McGinley’s dementia almost redeems the film from chronic mediocrity, but not quite. The underdeveloped plot and characters, cheap humour, and even cheaper sentimentality make this a pretty painful viewing experience. The Barbershop films were slight but enjoyable comedies focusing on the lighter side of inner-city life; the Are We…Yet? series is a weak entry in the burgeoning subgenre of black middle-class comedy. If Cube was aiming to demonstrate that African-Americans are equally capable of creating bland, inane entertainment with no social undertones whatsoever, only in that sense could this film be considered a success.

This amiable faux-documentary tells the tale of two francophone comedians from the Gatineau suburb of Aylmer who decide to seek their fortune in Toronto. Greg (Louis Durand) and Gentillon (Thomas Michael) have a dinner-theatre style of comedy that doesn’t fly in the Big Smoke like it did at home, and before long they have to deal with a host of professional and personal setbacks.

IN ON THE JOKE: Greg & Gentillon

In the spirit of Sacha Baron Cohen (and Andy Kaufman before him), Durand and Michael are the only ones in on the joke; the Toronto comedy public think they’re interacting with an actual pair of hapless comedians. But unlike Kaufman, who blurred the line between reality and performance to the point of conceptual art, or Baron Cohen, who cleverly uses his characters to tease out the real absurdities of his unwitting straight-men, Durand and Michael (and director Matthiew Klinck) seem content to just plunk the characters down in a situation and do their act; the inherent possibilities of the not-quite-documentary are left hanging.

Another angle insufficiently mined is the sociological experiment of trying to transpose Québecois humour to the epicentre of English Canada. Sense of humour seems one of the insurmountable differences between the two cultures, but we don’t get enough of a sense of just how the Toronto audience perceives the duo’s kétaine antics. But thanks to Durand and Michael’s likeable characters, the light-hearted portrayal of their Aylmer roots, and a story that’s unafraid to go into darker territory when necessary, the film is funny and charming in spite of itself.

As a film critic, a movie about a celebrity canine who ends up a rescue hero through wacky circumstances kind of feels like a low point in one’s professional career, especially on a rainy Monday-morning screening in an almost empty theatre. Perhaps it’s just that expectations that low can only be surpassed, but against all odds, I found Firehouse Dog to be effective and, I’ll just come right out and say it, delightful.

CLICHÉD BUT CHARMING
CANINE: Firehouse Dog

When an airplane stunt goes awry, doggie movie star Rex plummets from the sky into a cart of tomatoes and soon finds himself in another city. There his path crosses with Shane (Josh Hutcherson), a prematurely angstful young lad whose father Connor (Canadian screen veteran Bruce Greenwood) presides over a ramshackle firehouse which is in danger of being shut down by the city. The plot is actually fairly involved, with a rogue arsonist on the loose and various romantic flirtations.

It’s a film replete with clichés, trite sentimentality and corny jokes, the kind of film where George Thoroughgood’s “Bad to the Bone” is used as a signifier of coolness. Therefore, it’s hard to explain exactly why it works, but the cast and director Todd Holland just seem to be dedicated to a good, solid effort. During the tear-jerking finale, I found myself unexpectedly touched, then glanced over and saw one of my colleagues discreetly wiping her eyes. Suffice to say that if it can melt our cold, cold hearts, Firehouse Dog will deliver the goods for a family outing.

In this first feature by local writer-director Marc Bisaillon, Conrad (Denis Trudel) is a gravedigger in small-town 1960s Quebec, a working stiff who toes the line between regular guy and simpleton. He has a sweet young daughter (Marie-Ève Beauregard), but isn’t getting much loving, or love in general, from his wife Juliette (Geneviève Rioux). One frustrated night, he goes out to a bar and hooks up with local floozy Madeleine (Hélène Florent). They begin a torrid affair, which takes a dark turn when Florent reveals her plans to kidnap a young girl so that she and her pimp can make off with the ransom money.

QUEBEC NOIR: La Lâcheté

When they go through with the scheme, the unwillingly complicit Trudel tries to keep the authorities at bay while struggling with his moral dilemma. At any sign that he’s going to cave, the manipulative Florent deploys her womanly wiles, which together with his cowardice (the lâcheté of the title) keep him from doing the right thing as the situation escalates.

Bisaillon successfully sets a rural noir vibe; with its predatory women, tone of creeping unease and retro-kitsch décor, it feels a bit like mid-period David Lynch minus the surrealism. Trudel is compelling as the tormented Conrad, and Florent gives a great performance, switching from seductive charm to vindictive hostility with convincing menace. Unfortunately, Bisaillon drops the ball with the plot, which veers into the melodramatic in the final act of the film, but his command of style and atmosphere make this a promising debut.

Are We Done Yet? and Firehouse Dog
are currently in theatres; Greg & Gentillon
and La Lâcheté open this Friday, April 6

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