Montreal Gazette: Passenger Side Takes On Gunless

originally posted at the Montreal Gazette:

by Brendan Kelly (April 28, 2010)

How about this for a David vs. Goliath battle? In one corner, we have Gunless, the new multi-million-buck western spoof starring Paul Gross, who is like the closest thing we have to a real bona-fide movie-star in English Canada. In the other corner, the ultimate underdog - former Montrealer Matthew Bissonnette's micro-budget, shot-on-the-run Passenger Side. Matt Bissonnette's flick opens on a grand total of 3 screens Friday - one each in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Gunless, well it opens on a load more screens across the country and benefits from a mega promotional campaign from heavy-weight distributor Alliance Films.

It's the battle of two oh-so-different visions of Canadian cinema. On one side, you have the Paul Gross school - spend a lot of money, go for big commercial projects and chances are it'll work (which it did for both Men With Brooms and Passchendaele).

Then there's the auteur guy. Bissonnette makes little ultra-personal films, like the memorable Looking for Leonard and Who Loves the Sun, and with Passenger Side, he's hit his stride creatively. L.A. Weekly called it "a thinking man's Judd Apatow flick" and they're right. It's a brilliant film - smart, funny, a little disturbing and utterly original. It's about two brothers who spend a day driving around L.A. looking for one brother's ex-girlfriend. That's it for plot. (For more on the movie, I will have a profile of lead actor Joel Bissonnette in The Gazette Monday.)

Like I said, two different visions of Canadian cinema. Now wouldn't it be cool if Passenger Side somehow turned into this year's little-Canadian-film-that-could. You could help make it happen if you live in Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver. Go see the film. And, if you still have any money, then you can go see Gunless too, if you want.