Aging filmmaker Leonard Fife (Richard Gere), still fiery despite his battle with illness, wants to tell his life story, unfiltered, before it’s too late. As the director of acclaimed documentary exposés, he has much to be proud of, but his Vietnam War draft-dodging, complicated relationships, and hidden truths about his past relationships harbor thorny truths.
Leonard sits for an extended interview with his former student Malcolm (Michael Imperioli), relating candid stories about his younger self (Jacob Elordi) in the tumultuous 1960s and beyond. It is slated to be an extended, probing recounting of Leonard’s life.
At Leonard’s insistence, his wife and indispensable artistic partner, Emma (Uma Thurman), bears witness to it all. His successes are held up against his failings and, as the man is cleansed of the myth, Leonard must confront what is left.
The film uses his memories to flash back through his youth—a younger Leonard played by Elordi.
Paul Schrader’s adaptation of Russell Banks’ novel sees him reunited with Gere more than 40 years after “American Gigolo” to deliver a moving and deeply personal take on this story of an artist reflecting on a lifetime of storytelling.
Here in Gere’s portrayal of Leonard Fife is an obstinate old man, who is set to recall his history, but at times it is uncertain what is truly recall or what Leonard is just incorrectly streaming together.
He is fidgety and anxious as an entire crew has assembled to chronicle his life’s work. But he is aloof and unconcerned as he makes one demand after another—right in the midst of taping. His wife is at her wit’s end trying to keep it all together.
“Oh, Canada” is a study of a man who rose through celebrity with an incredible career chronicling others, and now it’s his life that is under surveillance—a life given Leonard’s frailty, is soon to be no more. However, the extended interview forces him to confront what is left at the end of it all.
It is said that this film is a close, personal account of the director’s [Schrader] 78-year-old life.
On the other hand, Gere is being lauded as giving a stellar, career turning performance.
Gere began working on the film about six months after his father, for whom he had been caretaking, died at 100, an experience that Gere says influenced his performance.
He told The Hollywood Reporter his thoughts about working with Schrader again: “Paul and I have run into each other over the years and are always happy when we see each other. He called me out of the blue and just said, ‘Look, I’ve got this script and it’s important to me and I want you to do it.’ And I said great.
“He said it came from Forgone, the novel, and I know he was close with the author. [He’d] done at least one other movie from his work. I said, ‘I’d love to read it.’ I did, and we started talking and then I jumped in.”
“Oh, Canada” opens at the Gene Siskel Film Center, located at 164 N. State St. on December 13.