Seducing Doctor Lewis

La grande séduction

Movie poster
Directed by Jean-François Pouliot
Produced by Roger Frappier
Luc Vandal
Written by Ken Scott
Starring Raymond Bouchard
David Boutin
Benoit Brière
Lucie Laurier
Music by Francois-Pierre Lue
Maxime Barzel
Paul-Étienne Côté
Cinematography Douglas Koch
Edited by Dominique Fortin
Distributed by Alliance Atlantis (Canada)
Dogwoof Pictures (UK)
Wellspring Media (USA)
Release dates
  • 20 May 2003 (2003-05-20)
Running time
108 minutes
Country Canada
Language French
Box office $12,587,032[1]

Seducing Doctor Lewis (French: La grande séduction) is a 2003 Quebec comedy film and the first film directed by Jean-François Pouliot.[2] The script was written by Ken Scott. It won the Audience Award at 2004 Sundance Film Festival. Starring in the movie are Raymond Bouchard, Benoit Brière, David Boutin and Lucie Laurier.

Plot

The big fishing village Ste-Marie-la-Mauderne on the north coast of Quebec is in decline. Every resident collects welfare. To lure a company into building a plastic container factory nearby, they need to double their population of 120, have a resident doctor, and give a $50,000 bribe for the company owner.

Montreal plastic surgeon Dr. Christopher Lewis (David Boutin) gets pulled over for speeding by an officer, Réal Fournier (Jean-Pierre Gonthier), the former mayor of Ste-Marie-la-Mauderne who moved to the city because he, like most of the residents of Ste-Marie, couldn't get a job there. Réal will not arrest him for drug possession - Dr. Lewis who is carrying a packet of cocaine - if Dr. Lewis will visit Ste-Marie-la-Mauderne for one month. In a deleted scene, Dr. Lewis sells cocaine to his patients.

Germain Lesage (Raymond Bouchard), a welfare recipient himself and the new mayor, hatches a plan. The entire village will convince Dr. Lewis to stay. They tap his phone, and pretend to share his likes: cricket, fusion jazz, and all the same foods. Henri Giroux (Benoît Brière), the local banker whose sole job is to cash the townfolks' welfare cheques, leaves small amounts of money for Dr. Lewis to find as small measures to increase Dr. Lewis' happiness about being in town, and attempts to secure a loan through his bank for the bribe. Dr. Lewis likes the beautiful post office worker Ève Beauchemin (Lucie Laurier), but Ève knows he has a girlfriend, Brigitte, in Montreal.

The ruse works, but they cannot secure a loan. Henri fronts the money from his personal savings, after a bank executive tells him that he has a job only as a favor to his father, and that his position could easily be replaced by an ATM. When the plastics company owner arrives, everyone continues their elaborate trick, and convinces him to build the a factory there. The owner is ready to sign, but insists that they must have a doctor.

When Dr. Lewis learns that Brigitte has been having an affair with his best friend Paul for three years, he proclaims that he will stay because everyone in the village is genuine. Germain feels bad for lying, and "lets him off the hook" by telling him another lie in that they have secured another person as a permanent doctor. Hurt, Dr. Lewis turns to Ève, who has disliked all the lying, and confesses all to him, including the phone tap. Dr. Lewis confronts Germain about the lies, with Germain confirming the accusations. When Dr. Lewis asks him if he will learn the game of cricket for real if he decides to stay, Germain replies "no". It is then that Dr. Lewis decides to stay. The factory is built, Ste-Marie-la-Mauderne is saved, everyone gains renewed pride, and Dr. Lewis has five years in which to woo Ève.

Production

Producer Roger Frappier wanted to film Seducing Doctor Lewis in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada but the film was eventually shot on an island with a population of about 300, Harrington Harbour, Quebec, Canada.[3] The film's producers felt the island looked too pretty to fill the role of a fishing village experiencing hard times, so they worsened its appearance in the movie.

Awards

Remakes

Main article: The Grand Seduction

An English language remake was released in 2013, starring Taylor Kitsch as Dr Lewis with Brendan Gleeson, Mary Walsh, Cathy Jones, and Gordon Pinsent as town folks. [5] The story's setting was moved to Newfoundland.

A French remake Un village presque parfait (English: An almost perfect village) produced by Stéphane Meunier, was released in 2015. The action takes place in a small imaginary Pyrenean village : Saint-Loin-la-Mauderne.[6]

References

  1. "La Grande Seduction". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
  2. Hornaday, Ann (July 30, 2004). "Hook, Line and Hoodwinkers". Washington Post (washingtonpost.com). Retrieved 03-06-2005.
  3. "Quebec film La Grande Seduction gets triple remake". CBC News. June 21, 2011. Retrieved December 28, 2013.
  4. "SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL FILMS HONORED 1985-2007" (PDF). Sundance Institute. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 27, 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
  5. "English remake". Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  6. "France Bleu Alsace reçoit l'équipe du film "Un village presque parfait". France Bleu (in French). Radio France. January 23, 2015. Retrieved September 18, 2015.

External links

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