Film Review: OH CANADA: Richard Gere is So-So in Paul Schrader’s Slow and Solemn Drama [NYFF 2024]
Oh Canada Review
Oh Canada (2024) Film Review from the 62nd Annual New York Film Festival, a movie directed by Paul Schrader, written by Russell Banks and Paul Schrader and starring Richard Gere, Uma Thurman, Jacob Elordi, Victoria Hill, Michael Imperioli, Caroline Dhavernas, Penelope Mitchell, Kristine Froseth, Megan MacKenzie, Peter Hans Benson, Scott Jaeck, Cornelia Guest, Zach Shaffer, Sean Mahan, Orlagh Cassidy, Jake Weary, Gary Hilborn and Ryan Woodle.
When Richard Gere and Uma Thurman co-starred together in the sexy thriller from 1992, Final Analysis, it marked the beginning of a wave of similarly daring thrillers that followed such as Basic Instinct. The point is that Gere and Thurman were once very attractive box-office draws. Now, over 30 years later, they star together in a small, lackluster and depressing dramatic film about regret and how the choices we make in life ultimately dictate the lives we lead, for better or worse. It’s called Oh Canada and it’s from director Paul Schrader who stunned the movie world with his probing Ethan Hawke drama from several years back, First Reformed. Oh Canada is a real clumsy movie at times, but it’s clear Schrader has a very distinct reason for that.
Oh Canada is ultimately a story of regret even though it’s a bit ambiguous in scope. Gere and Thurman try hard to make the movie work and it does in spurts but, ultimately, the film peters out at about the halfway mark, leaving audiences feeling abandoned by Schrader, a one-time great filmmaker. By the picture’s conclusion, much of the movie is forgettable and fails to leave a lasting impression.
Gere is featured in Oh Canada as Leonard Fife, a documentary filmmaker with cancer who takes one last look at his life in the presence of a moving camera. A set of former students of his, Malcolm (Michael Imperioli) and Diana (Victoria Hill), are present to fuel the fire. The problem is that Leonard hasn’t fully come to terms with the choices he’s made in his life even though he thinks he may have. At one point, it seems Leonard has died while shooting the documentary, but he hasn’t. He seems to be a man suffering through the torment of his past choices. Uma Thurman serves as Leonard’s sincere wife, Emma, a one-time student of Leonard’s who has stood by her man even in times of despair.
Scenes of the younger Leonard (Jacob Elordi in one of his lesser roles of late) are interspersed into the picture. Leonard was an artist (a writer) and didn’t want to play it safe by going into a prosperous career that would make him feel as if he was selling out. His ambitions drove him towards the future he chose. Leonard managed to escape going to Vietnam by avoiding the draft (thanks to sheer luck) and fleeing to Canada, but he didn’t get so “lucky” in terms of other things that happened throughout his life.
As a filmmaker, Leonard almost always tackled the difficult subjects and showed a strong side of himself but as a husband, he was a bit weak at times, and he was even worse as a father. He didn’t really find the true love of life until he met Emma, but Leonard hurt others along the way, especially his estranged son, Cornel (played by both Zach Shaffer and Sean Mahan). Unfortunately, a scene where Cornel confronts his dad about his abandonment is poorly played by Gere who shows no emotion and does so unconvincingly. When Cornel tries to talk to Emma about confronting Leonard about his coldness, that scene also feel a bit forced and flat.
The supporting cast is peppered with performers who try hard. Too hard. Kristine Froseth serves as another of Leonard’s wives, Alicia, and the actress turns in some of the most nuanced work in the picture. Imperioli is well-cast in his role as well, adding layers to a character who comes to some difficult realizations during the course of the picture.
Oh Canada is a movie that tells a story that isn’t easy to admire. Gere plays such a difficult character that there isn’t a lot of sympathy a viewer can truly develop for him. Though the audience can understand his choices, it’s doubtful that Leonard really lived the fulfilling life he set out to live and there’s a lack of substance to Gere’s performance. Thurman is above average beside him, seemingly adding more dimensions to the loyal wife than what was on the pages of the script.
Putting together the pieces of a life that was full of difficulty is the theme at the essence of Oh Canada. How does one manage to objectively tell the truth about a life that was lived without the most noble of intentions in regard to the feelings of other people? Schrader’s film, for the most part, keeps the audience at a distance from the characters and it’s almost like we’re watching them in a documentary-style fashion. The problem is that we’re never truly given the opportunity to comprehend what really motivated Leonard to make some of his poorer choices in his life. Was it simply his artistic ambitions?
Schrader has crafted a slow-moving film with delicate complexity that is sure to keep audiences’ attention for a little while before they lose interest due to the unrelatable nature of Gere’s character. It’s a film that is unable to finally come to a conclusion that is as moving as the director’s more recent films like First Reformed, The Card Counter and Master Gardener. It’s clear Schrader has a lot to say with Oh Canada but much of the message gets lost in the shuffle. It’s a close call but this one comes up as something of a miss because of its brevity (95 minutes) and the distance the film keeps with Leonard’s deeper emotions during the majority of the picture.
Rating: 5.5/10
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