Since Half Of America Is Going To Move There Now..."Being Canadian"

Being Canadian (2015)

Not Rated

Written and Directed by Robert Cohen

The Story:

Cohen left Canada to come to America and become a comedy writer. Along the way, the more he met people, the more he began to realize how misunderstood the world sees Canadians. He set out on a cross country trek across his homeland to see if he could discover what it truly means to be a Canadian.

Now, as I'm not Canadian, I cannot vouch for the confirmation of 90% of all stereotypes that Canadians are known for that Cohen runs across in the film.

But yeah, he pretty much ticks them off, like a checklist, and most are confirmed as true.

However, don't let that get you down, as the majority of Canadian stereotypes are not exactly a bad thing.

Excessively polite.
Very funny.

You could actually stop right there, and yes, those two are indeed addressed in the documentary.

Each trek of his journey tackles another facet of being Canadian, and he gets answers from everyday Canadians as well as many who have become quite famous on either side of the border.

It's light, it's breezy, it's fun.

Final Grade: A-

The Twelve Reviews of Christmas...Day Seven: "The Christmas Card"

I seriously want to live in this town...

The Story:

Sgt. Cody Cullen (John Newton) is serving a tour in Afghanistan.  For the holidays, he receives a random Christmas Card written by Faith Spelman (Alice Evans) who gives him some words of encouragement and invites him to come visit the family if he ever happens to be in Nevada City, California.  When one of Sgt. Cullen's men is killed in a mortar attack, he takes leave to go console the girlfriend, and then winds up in Nevada City.  He meets Faith, and in a nice twist of luck, saves her father (Edward Asner) from getting hit by a car.  Cody is invited to stick around for a bit, exchanging some work at the mill for a place to stay.  He agrees, and all is going swimmingly until Paul (Ben Weber), Faith's fiancé shows up...

Let's hear it for Hallmark!

Not to be outdone in the holiday department, Hallmark made this film in 2006.

Sadly, AT&T does not carry the Hallmark channel so I can't tell you if this film is playing this holiday season or not.

It should be, and if it is, I recommend a viewing.

It's sweet and charming.  A bit of drama with a helping of humor.

Yes, a lot like real life.

Faith's parents are hilarious in their obvious affection for Cody over Paul.  But as all good parents, they mostly want their child to be happy, so they will bite their tongue.

Mostly.

:)
Aside from Asner and Peter Jason, a great character actor, most everyone in the cast was a relative unknown to me.

But if the story is good, and the acting passable, it's hard not to want to watch a good Christmas movie.

That's what we have here.

Count me as  a big fan.

Probably my favorite of these sentimental dramatic romantic films that take place around the holidays.



Final Grade: B+/A-...

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: At least once, every year.  I do own this one, and I'm glad to have it!