Oh, Canada (2024)

User Review

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  ScreenZealots

  4 / 10

  Director Paul Schrader’s “Oh, Canada” is a deeply introspective film that wrestles with legacy, myth making, and the brutal honesty that sometimes comes too late. Anchored by a powerful, quietly vulnerable performance from Richard Gere, this is a thoughtful, well-acted film that also feels like an absolute chore.
  
  The film, which unfolds as a final confession, centers on Leonard Fife (Gere), a once-famous documentary filmmaker who’s now old, sick, and ready to spill the truth about his life. Leonard has been covering up a lot of truths (including his past as a Vietnam draft dodger and the mess of personal betrayals left in his wake), and he has an aching need to get his deepest secrets off his chest. As he sits down for a long interview with a former student (Michael Imperioli), Leonard’s memories come rushing back in voiceover and flashbacks (with Jacob Elordi playing his younger self).
  
  Schrader uses a fragmented, non-linear structure that’s complete with shifting aspect ratios and visual textures to mirror Leonard’s fading memory and mounting regret. The writing is intelligent and piercing, with dialogue that often drips with self-awareness and bitter irony. But the film’s cold tone is more cerebral than emotional, and its slow, talky pace feels brutally suffocating.
  
  “Oh, Canada” features some beautifully profound moments, but the film moves so slowly that it comes across as a cinematic therapy session rather than a compelling and entertaining story. It’s smart and intimate, but also a little too stuffy for its own good.
  
  By: Louisa Moore / SCREEN ZEALOTS

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