Picoreview: The Grand Seduction: Charming!
The Grand Seduction is sort of Doc Hollywood meets The Full Monty (in terms of small town whose main source of employment has dried up, not in terms of stripping :)), with a bit of Waking Ned Devine thrown in. It stars Brendan Gleeson, who is always wonderful, and Taylor Kitsch, who appears to be trying to rebuild a career after his meteoric rise culminated in two gigantic box office flops. (I *like* Kitsch, and in fact liked both John Carter and Battleship, so I’m glad he’s getting work. :))
The gist of the film is that the small town is trying to get a factory in for work, but it needs a doctor, which it hasn’t had for years. Kitsch is the doctor who ends up there for a month through Doc Hollywood-like machinations (he’s even a plastic surgeon!), and the seduction is the townsfolk trying to make their town the perfect place for him (and the factory). It’s funny and sweet and charming, and the romantic storyline is, for a rarity, spot-on. Well worth seeing!