The French Canadian film ‘Seducing Dr Lewis’ was one of my favourite films of the year thus far.
Francois Pouliot’s direction was first class, and the cast backed up their director with strong performances. The scenario had a lot of appeal- a small town, battling seaside community is desperately in need of a lift. A corporation has offered to build a new factory for the town, with all the jobs that that would offer, if they can organise a Doctor to work full-time within the community. The quirky local mayor and the towns’ people get in on the case to seduce a Doctor to take on the onerous role. Thieir target is quirky Montreal general practitioner, Dr Lewis.

The feature of this film was its effortless charm. Just to give you a taste of what I mean there is a scene where the locals, who have no knowledge of the game, stage a game of cricket for the benefit of Dr Lewis just to make him feel at home. It becomes more than a little problematic when the good Doctor wants to join in!

‘Seducing Dr Lewis’ has been compared to the American film ‘Doc Hollywood’ starring Michael J. Fox. Sure the two films have a similar storyline, both depicting a marginalised community who go out of their way to entice a Doctor to service its community. (I guess it shows how contemporary cinema tries to reflect social issues). More to the point however, for its charm and deft touch, this French- Canadian production comes out well ahead.