TIFF 2024 Review: Oh, Canada “had a lot to say about regret and redemption”

I had a run where the first movie I was seeing at a festival ended up being my favourite.  Call Me By Your Name, CODA, Anatomy of a Fall were all titles that set the bar high for all that came after.  But, that streak has ended this year with Paul Schrader‘s latest, Oh, Canada.

A somewhat divisive film coming out of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Oh, Canada is a story of legacy, regret, and memory.  As a film crew sets up, we are introduced to Leonard Fife (Richard Gere), an ailing senior who, through a flat-sounding voiceover that sounds almost AI-generated, we learn is soon to die.  But, he won’t do that before he tells his life story to this documentary crew, who as it happens has a contract with the CBC – one of the few tidbits thrown in there to bring at least some Canadian flare to the film.  Leonard is also obsessed with his wife Emma (Uma Thurman) being present as there is much he’s kept hidden from her throughout their relationship.  Or is there?

Check out all of our TIFF coverageBecause of Leonard’s illness and medications, his memory is spotty at best, an unreliable narrator in his own tale.  So, we as the audience are never quite sure of the truth of the story he is telling.  He recalls times from his past, young Leonard played by Jacob Elordi, where he starts a family, leaves a family, starts another family and leaves that one too.  He then pretends to be gay in order to get out of the Vietnam war draft and comes to Canada where he starts his own documentary film career, becoming a beloved director.  The story meanders as Leonard has difficulty recalling, or needs to stop, or yet again is shouting out for Emma and wondering where she’s gone.

And while Schrader tries to adjust colour palettes and visuals to keep things clearer, Oh, Canada still just seems jumbled and confusing.  This does seem to be the point, but also means this film feels a bit dull.  Occasionally as we move through time, Gere comes out of his old age make-up to depict his more recent history.  But there’s also a scene where Gere’s version of Leonard is inserted into his distant past, playing opposite Kristine Frøseth as his young, pregnant wife.  As the two share a moment talking while laying in bed, her caressing his face, him caressing her pregnant belly, it’s nothing short of… well, creepy to be honest.  The many decades between them take away from any tenderness that could have been achieved if Elordi had just played out the scene.

Reuniting with Schrader 44 years after they made American Gigolo together, Richard Gere is in top form here.  Both director and actor can likely connect with how a camera can be an outlet for unknown truths.  Their trust in one another is evident, especially as Leonard is at his most frustrated with his mind and Gere must depict his quick decline.  It’s unfortunate that Thurman isn’t given much to do here, her dialogue is clunky and forced.  Yet, in the grand scheme of things, this is how Leonard himself treated his women, without much care or regard, so we should not be surprised if the main female character here is tragically underdeveloped.

For all its blunders, Oh, Canada at least looks beautiful thanks to cinematography from Andrew Wonder, and has a memorable score from Phosphorescent.  Though, I could have done without the heavy metal rendition of the national anthem at the end.  But, that’s just me.  While Oh, Canada I feel had a lot to say about regret, redemption and how we feel the need to bare our soul before we leave this earth, it just could not dramatically connect the dots in a way that makes this a memorable experience.  Well except for the icky Gere/Frøseth scene – that’s stuck in my mind.

The good news for me is, as far as the festival goes, the bar wasn’t set too high and there’s still plenty of room for a favourite to emerge.

Oh, Canada premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.  It had its North American Premiere September 13, 2024 at the Toronto  International Film Festival.  For more information please head to tiff.net

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