Saturday 30 January 2016

A DATE WITH MISS FORTUNE

A Date With Miss Fortune
Jeannette Sousa and Ryan Scott

























I love to support Canadian Film because we as Canadians generally don't brag about the talents of our own people so our Arts and Culture and other achievements generally go un-noticed under the over abundance of the promotion of the things going on in the U.S. and other parts of the world.

So, when I was invited to attend a Red Carpet Premiere of a new Canadian Comedy I was very happy to attend.  This is an ALL Canadian Film which was written, directed and acted by Canadian talent.

Directed by John L'Ecuyer and Written by Ryan Scott & Jeannette Sousa who all have extensive work experience in Film and Television in Canada.

Ryan Scott and Jeannette Sousa wrote and are also the stars of the film.  They wrote the film together as somewhat of an autobiographical but exaggerated version of their own real life adventures as a couple.

Ryan plays Jack a man who has lost his job and is divorced and about to move to London to get a fresh start in the TV writing business, until he has a chance meeting with Jeannette (Maria) who has recently split up with her fiance.  They meet in a diner as Jack tries to hide from his Ex who is also at the diner and he uses Maria as his cover.  They spend the rest of the night talking about life and their beliefs and after a long night of sharing their lives Jack decides to skip his trip to London and take a chance on seeing if they can begin a relationship.

Things go well until Maria's quirks including frequent visits to a Fortune Teller who she bases her life decisions on and her crazy Portuguese Family get in the way.

The film is reminiscent of My Big Fat Greek Wedding minus the wedding but it has the same type of ethnic humour.

Maria has a big Portuguese family while Jack's has a hilarious single guy friend, and writing partner Wilson (Vik Sahay).  Jack is an athiest while Maria has symbols of the cross surrounding her.  They couldn't have more different lives but somehow they fall in love.

While there were a few technical things that I noticed that distracted me the movie was hilarious but I must admit a bit stereotypical of Insert _______ ethnic family.  They happen to be Portuguese but they could have been Greek, Italian or any European strong family.

The story could have been a bit stronger as it was a bit predictable for a Rom Com but it was a really cute film with hilarious moments.  Some great performances by the crazy Fortune Teller woman who also was a bit of a stereotype of what a Fortune Teller would look like but if you look past that she was important in this film.  The character of Wilson was an enthusiastic and also hilarious character who bridged a lot of the scenes.

Singer Nelly Furtado also appears in the film as Maria's cousin in a cameo short scene.  She wasn't integral to the story and I think they just added her for the Portuguese community and a little star power but it was still nice to see her in the film.

Maria's parents Jose (Joaquim de Almeida) and Anna Maria (Claudia Ferri) were the typical Portuguese parents.  Jose the overbearing father and Anna Maria the long suffering sweet dutiful mother who knows her daughter best.

The scene stealers were played by Bella the Dog who is only shown in the film a short time and I kind of found it odd that you only see the dog in a few scenes but the one scene with the family will crack you up.

And my boyfriend George Stroumboulopoulos appears as Paul, Maria's Ex who is a doctor and is shown in a very compromising position in one of his scenes.  Seems George is developing a bit of a resume of showing up in cameos of crazy scenes.

Bella (BoJangles) makes her Red Carpet Appearance at Yonge/Dundas Cineplex

This film was very enjoyable with Laugh Out Loud scenes so I suggest you suspend judgment and go and see it and be entertained and support Canadian Film so that we can see more of it.

A Date with Miss Fortune opens on February 5, 2016 in Canada.  

Get Tickets here:
http://www.cineplex.com/Movie/a-date-with-miss-fortune

#DateMissFortune  @Datemissfortune

It is important to go see Canadian Films in their First Weekend so that they can get extended runs.  This film in particular is a great Date Night Movie and they would like to have their run extended to past Valentine's Day so go see it next weekend.



*Disclaimer:  I was invited to see the film but the opinions in this post are my own.

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