Edwin Boyd
Where: The Vic
When: Friday, 9:30 p.m.
Rating: Four-and-a-half stars
Now here's a festival film with some serious local significance. The notorious post-Second World War era Canadian bank robber of the title died under an assumed identity 10 years ago in Sidney where, we're told, he was a bus driver and caregiver once named Outstanding Citizen of the Year. Hmmm. Bolstered by Scott Speedman's charismatic title performance, director Nathan Morlando mythologizes Boyd with a memorable nostalgic flashback (watch for Lorne Greene making his debut as a TV newscaster as CBC utters its first cries) that engagingly captures Boyd's theatrical showmanship that prompted comparisons to John Dillinger.
Morlando's muted visual style and meticulous period detail enhances this modestly captivating tale of the Toronto war veteran and failed aspiring actor who turned to crime in desperation to provide for his family. His alternately mournful and entertaining portrait of this well-intentioned desperado is enhanced by the contributions of a sterling supporting cast, notably Kelly Reilly as Boyd's long-suffering British wife, Brian Cox as Boyd's stern father, a retired cop, and Kevin Durand as a particularly explosive and dangerously impulsive henchman. Although the film is on shakier ground during some of its over-the-top bank robbery montages, it's a consistently watchable reminder of how fact can indeed sometimes be stranger and at times seemingly more far-fetched than fiction.
To Be Heard
Where: Odeon
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Rating: Four stars
"If you don't learn to write your own life story, someone else will write it for you."
That's the motto that drives this inspiring, absorbing and often deeply moving film that documents the impact of a radical poetry-writing program on the lives of three underprivileged public high school students in the South Bronx.
It charts the fates of participants Anthony Pittman, a troubled teenager whose life on the streets is endangering him, and whose father is in prison for drug-dealing; Pearl Quick, a glowing, overweight girl who laments "being stuck in the ghetto"; and Karina Sanchez, a surrogate mother to seven siblings who loves but often clashes with her abusive mother. Their combined talent, showcased in power poetry slams and workshops caught on camera, is as awe-inspiring as their endlessly patient and resourceful teachers. (Two of them, Roland Legiardi-Laura and Amy Sultan, co-directed with Edwin Martinez and Deborah Shaffer.) Highlighted by terrific gritty imagery, the film is something of a roller-coaster ride as it charts this trio's ups and downs. Indeed, the filmmakers don't trivialize the plights of this artistic "tripod" as they call themselves, nor do they pass judgment or imply that everything will simply come up roses thanks to these poetry programs, described as "my rehab" by one subject. Still, the film's message of hope is bracing, and a lesson in the far-reaching importance of retaining funding for arts programs in our schools.
