The Grand Seduction

The Grand Seduction is a comedy from director Don McKellar. The film is set in a small town along the coast of Newfoundland known as Tickle Head that is experiencing financial difficulties after the collapse of the fishing industry. To the town’s surprise, a plastics manufacturer plans to open up a factory there but in order to land the contract, which will save the town from financial ruin, the small harbor must find a permanent resident doctor. Murray French (played by Brendan Gleeson) leads the search and eventually finds Dr. Lewis (played by Taylor Kitsch) who ends up in the village for a trial residence. In a desperate attempt to charm him into staying, the townsfolk come together and pull out all the stops, including taking up the doctor’s beloved sport of cricket, to begin the “Grand Seduction”. The film co-stars Liane Balaban and Gordon Pinsent.

The film, which was shot in 2012, faced a year’s delay and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2013. Coming fresh off of big-budget Hollywood films John Carter and Battleship, Taylor Kitsch reflected on the delay and getting back to the simplicity of life with a Canadian film, saying “I was very fortunate about the timing. It was more about just going to work and not worrying about so many other things, which you can find yourself getting into the trap of. Just simplifying your life, you know. When your phone doesn’t work 90 percent of the day, you forget about those things and you’re way more engaging. To have gone to the outskirts of Newfoundland and to live in a three-bedroom cottage house with my best buddy there with me training and just working out and breaking the material down, it was really refreshing. It was a really great thing for me to take on. I was very lucky in that sense. I also wrote this short that I ended up directing, like right after. So on many levels, it was just a creative outlet.”

The Grand Seduction is rated PG.

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