Cochlear Implant

PASSENGER SIDE

Sat, Oct 3 (2pm)

If your brother is a drug addict, you obviously want to help. You probably don’t want to help him score anymore drugs, though. When Michael gets a call from his estranged and troubled brother Tobey, asking for a brotherly favour in the form of taxi-service, he’s naturally skeptical. But this sibling relationship is more mutually dependent than it looks: Michael, an aspiring novelist, writes books with his addled brother as the main character while trying to pretend Tobey isn’t the model. His brother then surprises him by admitting that he’s read Tobey’s first novel (and noticed the striking resemblance), and then by revealing he’s not planning to score drugs at all.
Passenger Side is an engaging look at sibling rivalry and the disappointment that comes with failing to accomplish your life’s goals. It’s a meandering, occasionally long-winded film, but Adam Scott and Joel Bissonnette are likable enough to keep it afloat. In the end, after countless pit-stops and indirect conversations, Michael and Tobey grow as brothers, but realize entirely different things as individuals.



***1/2


SONGS FROM THE SOUTHERN SEAS

Tue, Sept 29 (5:15pm)
I know, I know: we’re supposed to give foreign films more credit for being deeper, more challenging, and while they may be more difficult to “get,” when you do get it, it’s well worth the wait and effort. Songs From the Southern Seas could be one of those movies. Or it could be an absolutely convoluted, irritatingly unclear attempt at conveying something profound. What, exactly? Beats me.
Set in Kazakhstan, Songs’ underdeveloped plot revolves around a disillusioned and distraught couple who have a new child. Unfortunately, the child is of a darker shade than the father would hope for. This sparks a rivalry between the Kazahk “father” and the Russian man he suspects is the father. The child becomes the cause not just of eternal unhappiness on the part of his “father” but continued bitterness towards the world on the part of his mother. But as the story unfolds — or at least I think it unfolds this way — the characters realize that love is what should fuel their lives, not misdirected anger. Songs’ plot thickens when love enters; sadly, I found the story too thin right from the
get-go.


**