Although My Internship in Canada slips into a few questionable ruts of poor taste the performances are lived-in and the tone is refreshingly light.
The Vancouver International Film Festival runs Sept. 24 through Oct. 9. The Globe and Mail will pick one must-watch film each day and include a capsule review.
After The Good Lie died a quick, if unfair, Hollywood death, Philippe Falardeau returns to his Quebec roots with this broad and sweet political comedy.
Focusing on the last honest man in office – a rural MP (Patrick Huard) who finds himself with the deciding vote over whether the country goes to war – Falardeau wrings laughs out of all the expected corners of the Canadian political psyche. (His Stephen Harper stand-in is a particular riot, right down to his cat-loving wife and penchant for piano solos.)
Although the film slips into a few questionable ruts of poor taste – one villain's stutter is played for laughs, while the entire population of Haiti can be viewed as the butt of a democracy-for-dummies joke – the performances are lived-in and the tone is refreshingly light. A genuine crowd-pleaser, no matter what colour that sign on your lawn might be.
Barry Hertz