Photo by:
The U.S. premiere for Canadian film “Men with Brooms” swept into the Colorado Center Theatre last Tuesday night, bringing the witty Paul Gross and the effervescent Leslie Nielsen to Denver.
“You’re all under arrest!” Nielsen announced to the large audience, bringing squeals of laughter and reminding many of his many spoof films of the past.
But don’t be fooled, “Men with Brooms” is no spoof, even if there is an abundance of tongue-in-cheek beaver jokes (hey – it’s the national animal of the Great White North after all!).
Gross appeared at the premiere in typical laid-back Canadian style, wearing a gray long-sleeve Olympic sweatshirt and his signature grin.
During his introduction speech before the film, he charmed the audience with captivating jokes and filmmaking anecdotes.
The film follows a recently reunited curling team, ten years after their stormy and mysterious breakup. At the helm of the hodge-podge group of 30-something friends is writer-director Gross as the prodigal son Chris Cutter.
Joining Gross is his estranged father/coach, played by Leslie Nielsen, ‘hipster’ bad-boy James (Peter Outerbridge), Neil (James Allodi), a sorrowful suburban undertaker living in marital wretchedness, and Eddie (Jed Rees) who seems to be the happiest of the four, if only he didn’t have such a low sperm count.
Also joining the cast are quirky sisters with identical (and strangely creepy) crushes on Gross’ character. There’s Julie Foley (played by Michelle Nolden) as an American astronaut and Amy Foley (played by the comical Molly Parker) as her single mom sister.
The film is a stirring exploration of relationships – both the familial and the not so familial. Gross also spends a bit of time explaining the rules and ‘poetry’ of curling, which is helpful, since anyone outside of Ontario is bound to need a little help.
This is also a story about personal honor, leading up to the film’s big-game climax, reminding everyone that sometimes it’s not if you win, but how you win that really counts.
Also notable is the film’s well-selected soundtrack, which reads like a Who’s Who list of Canadian musicians. It includes songs by Sarah Harmer, Our Lady Peace, Chantal Kreviazuk, the Matthew Good Band and The Tragically Hip(who also have a cameo in the film as a curling team).
“Men with Brooms” opened this past Friday in select Denver area theaters and is rated R for language, sexuality and some drug use.
