by MATTHEW HAYS

Low-budget Montreal films featuring references to Leonard Cohen and laced with slacker characters may sound like some kind of death sentence, but there are, in fact, numerous pleasing surprises packed into Looking for Leonard, the directorial debut of Matt Bissonnette and Steven Clark.

Decidedly unpretentious, the film has several characters navigating through a surreal, parallel-universe Montreal. A city where the Montreal Star still reigns, where vagabonds and outcasts meet up, where love springs eternal and an inadvertent killing wreaks havoc on the central characters’ lives. A true genre-buster, the film takes the romantic comedy and pushes its limits, moving well beyond any banal Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan idiocy. Instead, we get Montreal’s setting used to maximum effect, with a bizarre group of oddballs coping after being tossed together under strained circumstances.

“Montrealers will definitely get a kick out of it,” says co-director Clark, who now resides in Toronto. “But the surreal quality to the film means it extends to make sense in virtually any culture.”

Clark recalls that the idea for the film was hatched over some red wine in an Italian eatery with childhood friend Bissonnette. “I had an idea, and I just laid it out there. Matt was articling as a lawyer at the time, and hating it, so he was very open to the idea of us doing something creative together.” Bissonnette earned his lawyer credentials shortly thereafter and promptly retired from law, deciding to focus on film - and Looking for Leonard - full time.

Hard target

The two pushed forward with their odd riff on fate and petty robbery, bashing out several versions of the screenplay. Their venture was bolstered when fellow Concordia alum Sylvia Wilson thought the project merited a green light and came on board as producer. The three formed their own production company, Frustrated Films, and began to assemble a cast to bring this eclectic group of characters to life. Clark explains that the experience of making the film lived up to their production company’s moniker. “It’s funny, we all hear stories about how hard it is to make a movie,” says Clark. “I guess you just push forward in naïveté. Then you realize it’s three times harder than anyone had ever told you.”

Looking for Leonard has some obtuse, unusual dialogue and is shot in an endearingly off-kilter fashion. Adding to the film’s style are the sharp performances, delivered by a solid cast, including Kim Huffman (Traders) in the lead, Molly Parker (Sunshine, Max), Ben Ratner (Last Wedding, Dirty), Darcy Belsher (We All Fall Down, The Guilty), Joel Bissonnette (Suspicious River, Sum of All Fears) and Justin Pierce (Kids). (In a tragic footnote, before the film could be released, Pierce committed suicide; the film is dedicated to the late actor. “We’ve been incredibly saddened by his death,” says Clark. “We’d certainly heard that he’d had his troubles on the Kids set as well.”)

True independents

What was always important to the filmmakers, in their quest to create Leonard, was to remain true to their independent vision. “We stuck to our guns,” says Clark. “We really didn’t want to show this to someone who might ask us to compromise. And I think it’s paid off. People have really embraced the film on the festival circuit. They’ve seen it as something original, something new. The festivals have been very good to us.”

The film has also garnered its comparisons, something which Clark, who is now working on his next screenplay, has mixed feelings about. “People have definitely picked out Jim Jarmusch and Hal Hartley as influences on our style. Sometimes this is a plus, sometimes it’s a minus. People will say, ‘It’s not as strong as their films are.’ We certainly don’t deny any of those influences, but we weren’t trying to mimic anyone really.”

While Looking for Leonard does follow in the ironic strain of filmmaking associated with Hartley, it remains heartfelt. “While the film is a pastiche of different elements of various movies, we wanted it to remain sincere and sweet.” :

Looking for Leonard opens Friday, Jan. 31

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