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.

Bradley Cooper tries hard not to get BURNT

BURNT Preview Screening Review

I got tickets to see Bradley Cooper's new film Burnt about a Chef who's career went up in flames because of his own self sabotaging behaviour.

I really wanted to like this movie because well it's a food movie and Bradley Cooper as (Adam Jones) is the lead in it.  

It also stars the fantastic Emma Thompson as his pseudo therapist and Sienna Miller as a tough cookie Helene a sous chef.  Both women were fantastic but I would have liked to see a little more of their characters developed in the story. Uma Thurman also makes an accent ladened appearance as a food critic.

Bradley Cooper plays kind of the stereotypical arrogant and Gordon Ramsey like tyrant of a boss who tries to achieve perfection in food but has a lot to master in his personal life.  

He was a 2 star Michelin Chef which is already a difficult feat to master but he has reached rock bottom after blowing his career because of his drug addicted lifestyle and the fact that he borrowed money from the wrong people and responsible for leaving a trail of destruction in his past because of his addictions.  Now clean for 2 years he returns to London and looks up some of his old contacts,  one is a rival chef who still has anger towards the things he did in the past and another played by Daniel Bruhl who is a gay Maitre D who is in love with Adam Jones but has been burned by him in the past.  Because he still cares about him he puts up with his insane behaviour and helps him to re launch his career with the help of some former good and bad chefs and Helene the strong and talented chef who is the only person he can connect with as he sees them as the same career obsessed people.  

Will he get his 3rd Michelin Star?  Well he needs to realize the worth of the people he is surrounded by to get there.

This film is filled with lots of food porn and beautiful people and amazing locations in London and Paris but there seems to be a missing ingredient in the mix.  As my friend put it there wasn't enough heart in the story.  There wasn't enough of the backstory and the heart of the lead character shown in the film until the very end so it was hard to connect to his story.  There are plenty of scenes that are just people cooking or eating food so if you aren't into food porn you might not be interested in this film.  

The thing that took me out of the film was a fight scene where he gets beat to a pulp and has a gash on his eye that was bleeding and can barely walk and then all of a sudden they find out that Michelin men have come to the restaurant and he magically recovers and starts the pass.  Firstly,  after just finishing my food handlers certificate there is no way anyone would allow him to cook with blood on his face and an open wound.  If he is a Michelin star chef he knows he could be shut down instantly if a food inspector walked in.  Then there was the makeup person in me that just kept getting my attention drawn to the continuity of the actual gash and the other injuries that seemed to magically change.   

The film was pretty predictable with the plate clearing scene and the yelling and the arrogance and abusive lifestyle.   You knew where this film was going.

For a film with more heart see A hundred Mile Journey with Helen Mirren or watch the documentary For Grace about Michelin Star chef Curtis Duffy who has loads of heart.  I have written a post on that film previously and have met and interviewed chef Duffy who is focused, humble and kind.   I suppose there isn't enough Hollywood drama in a character that is nice but bad behaviour in the kitchen is becoming passe.

If you love food or Bradley Cooper then go see this movie but if you are looking for a great story then I would say pass on this pass.

Sorry Bradley I wanted to love it but it was just a little burnt for me.

The movie release date was Oct. 23rd, 2015