Seducing Dr Lewis

(Herald rating: * *)

A promising premise is rather frittered away in this bland and obvious comedy set in a fishing village on the remote, storm-lashed coast of Quebec. The opportunity was there for something genuinely touching, but director Pouliot, a commercials veteran making his feature debut, is happy to settle for the kind of broad comedy that was out of date before Benny Hill died.

Times are tough for the citizens of Ste-Marie-La-Mauderne. The fish aren't biting and everyone is on the dole. Germain Lesage (Bouchard), the main character, is a rumpled, unshaven fellow who looks like Peter Ustinov after a hard night but he is determined to resurrect the small community's spirit. When a plastics manufacturer shows up looking for a site for a new factory, everyone's delighted until the company stipulates that the village must have a resident doctor.

Then a yuppie medic from Montreal, Christopher Lewis (Boutin) shows up for a short stay and villagers plan to turn it into a long one. Discovering he's cricket-mad, they take to the sport like cats to water but with sufficient fake glee ("They've no right to call it a sport," one hockey-loving villager remarks gloomily) to convince the doctor.

But not, perhaps, the filmgoer. Despite Bouchard's considerable charm, the idea is ponderously deployed. The outcome is predictable and although it's sweet enough in a sentimental and unchallenging way, it's the cinematic equivalent of an afternoon nap: the time could be better used.

CAST: Raymond Bouchard, David Boutin, Benoit Briere, Pierre Collin
DIRECTOR: Jean-Francois Pouliot
RUNNING TIME: 108 minutes
RATING: PG, adult scenes
SCREENING: Rialto (previews this weekend) and Bridgeway from Thursday