Seducing Doctor Lewis (2003)
"La grande séduction" (original title)

A much-needed boost, in the form of a new factory, is promised to the residents of the tiny fishing village St. Marie-La-Mauderne, provided they can lure a doctor to take up full-time residency on the island. Inspired, the villagers devise a scheme to make Dr. Christopher Lewis a local.

Director:

Jean-François Pouliot

Writer:

Ken Scott

Stars:

Raymond Bouchard, Dominic Michon-Dagenais, Lucie Laurier

15 wins & 17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Raymond Bouchard	...	Germain Lesage
Dominic Michon-Dagenais	...	Germain Lesage enfant
Guy-Daniel Tremblay	...	Rolland Lesage
Nadia Drouin	...	Simone Lesage
Rita Lafontaine	...	Hélène Lesage
Roc LaFortune	...	Charles Campeau
Réal Bossé	...	Denis Lacoste
Guy Vaillancourt	...	Claude Larivée
Lucie Laurier	...	Eve Beauchemin
Pierre Collin	...	Yvon Brunet
Ken Scott	...	Richard Auger
Jean-Pierre Gonthier	...	Réal Fournier
Benoît Brière	...	Henri Giroux
Marc Legault	...	Marcel Sigouin
Caroline Girard	...	Lucie Giroux

Storyline

St. Marie-La-Mauderne is a tiny fishing village in what some may call the middle of nowhere. For eight years the locals have stood in line for weekly welfare checks, wearing patched sweaters and glum expressions, and remembering the good old days when the catch was good, the fishermen were proud, and life seemed a lot more magical. Then one day, a chance at salvation: a small company wants to build a factory on the island, but only if a full-time doctor lives in St. Marie. The situation seems hopeless until a young doctor in Montreal has an unfortunate incident with a traffic cop and finds himself on a boat to the faraway village. But how to convince handsome, young, urbane Dr. Lewis to stay in this dreary little spot on the map? As it turns out, the answer lies in just a bit of seductive subterfuge--along with a tapped phone, a hastily assembled cricket team, and something called Festival de Beef Stroganoff.

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Plot Keywords:

village | doctor | fishing | factory | island | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Dogwoof Pictures [uk] GBVI [fr]

Country:

Canada

Language:

French

Release Date:

26 March 2004 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Seducing Dr. Lewis

Filming Locations:

Fox Island, Miramichi, New Brunswick, Canada

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$7,164 (USA) (18 June 2004)

Gross:

$489,338 (USA) (1 April 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC), Crédit d'Impôt Cinéma et Télévision, Fonds de télévision et de câblodistribution pour la porduction d'émissions canadiennes

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

There was actually an English dubbed version of the movie which was very well done. Unfortunately it was only available on airline flights and for some reason they decided not to put it on the DVD release.

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Goofs

There are two scenes at the Giroux dinner table where Henri asks if Lucie has an announcement. The scenes are supposedly days apart, yet each member of the family is wearing the same outfit and they are eating the same meal in each scene.

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Connections

Referenced in Caché (Hidden) (2005)

User Reviews

Genuine laughs, great characterizations.

This is a sweet funny film and not to be missed.

Small town Quebec is captured beautifully, full of characters that are depressed over the death of the fishing industry, reluctant to leave the town for work in the city and willing to do anything to get an industry to open a plant and provide employment.

The shame of lining up and getting their welfare cheques every month is palpable.

Part of the requirements of opening a manufacturing plant in the village is that it have a doctor and a population of over 200, neither of which this village has. The efforts to secure the doctor and convince the manufacturers of a non-existent larger population is the crux of the humour. That and the cricket scenes. A wonderful effort, beautifully filmed.

8 out of 10.