Themes: All Washed Up, Cons and Scams, Drug Addiction
Main Cast: William Hurt, Andy Jones, Molly Parker, Cathy Jones, Vicky Hynes
Release Year: 2001
Country: CA
Run Time: 104 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Iceland-born Canadian filmmaker Sturla Gunnarsson spins this offbeat comedy about fine food and feathered friends. The owner of a failing gourmet eatery in a small Newfoundland town, Dave Purcell (William Hurt) is about to throw in the towel. As he raids his wine cellar and nurses his sorrows, his wacky friend Alphonse Murphy (Andy Jones) hatches a scheme to save the restaurant. They announce a faked sighting of a rare bird in the restaurant's vicinity, and soon bird watchers and even celebrities are pouring into the establishment. Dave's restaurant is so busy, in fact, that he hires Alphonse's shapely sister-in-law, Alice (Molly Parker), and in less time than it takes to burn a soufflé, romantic sparks are flying between the two. Unfortunately, Alphonse's schemes aren't limited to ornithological fraud. He has some hackneyed plan involving a submarine and a pile of cocaine that could bring down all that Dave has built. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
Greg Malone; Maggie Myer; Lawrence Barry; Sheila McCarthy; Leah Lewis; Michael Chaisson; Matthew Clarke; George Jonas
Credit
Tamara Shannon - Associate Producer, Sturla Gunnarsson - Director, Jeff Warren - Editor, Sam Feldman - Executive Producer, Jeff Sackman - Executive Producer, Jonathan Goldsmith - Composer (Music Score), Pam Hall - Production Designer, Jan Kiesser - Cinematographer, Paul Pope - Producer, Janet York - Producer, Paul Steffler - Sound Editor, David Evans - Sound Editor, Donna Powell - Sound Editor, Harvey Hyslop - Sound Editor, Edward Riche - Screenwriter, Kelly Stone - Second Assistant Director, Edward Riche - Book Author
Dave (Hurt) has had some bad luck recently. His wife lives in Washington, DC, his restaurant is not doing good business. Phonse (Jones) helps Dave by making up a story about a rare bird sighting which begins to help Dave's business. Phonse also finds ten kilos of cocaine and tries to get rid of it with the help of Dave.
