22 Chaser

Leave it to Canada to make a movie about tow truck drivers. But not so fast. In a country that spends have of the year driving through snow and ice, our tow truck drivers are the unsung heroes of the road. Moreover, this is a surprisingly sharp and compelling movie with genuine, thoughtful and gripping performances all around. "Chasers" are tow truck drivers who race to an accident scene to secure cars and get kickbacks to the autoshops they send them to. (If that seems unCanadian to you, it is. Actually, the tow truck industry is so regulated this practice is almost non-existent.) None the less, we take our drama where we can get it and it's rare to see a Canadian film that is unself-consciously Canadian. Although the lead actor (Brian Smith) is actually from Texas. It's also refreshing to see Toronto as the setting for this movie. Instead of trying so hard to be New York, the quaint, clean, decidingly less grim city backdrop somehow makes the action more gripping, stark and real. Admittedly, part of its charm is that '22 Chaser' doesn't try to be more then it is. It is, after all, a television movie. The result is a satisfying but tropey ending.