Pubdate: Thu, 29 Sep 2005
Source: FFWD (CN AB)
Copyright: 2005 FFWD
Contact:  http://www.ffwdweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1194
Author: Julia Williams

ESCAPE TO CANADA (Canada, 2005) Directed by Albert Nerenberg 
September 30, 9:30 p.m., Uptown October 1, midnight, Globe

Escape to Canada, a stylish documentary about 21st century 
U.S.-Canada relations, is weakened considerably by its shallow, "Joe 
Canadian" treatment. The film's thesis - that since 2001 the 
so-called "boring" nation of Canada has out-cooled its mighty 
neighbour - relies on the assumption that pot-smoking and gay 
marriage, both of which are more or less legal in Canada are the 
defining factors of cool. Uh, I guess. It doesn't help matters that 
Escape to Canada could have been named Escape to Toronto without 
losing more than about 15 minutes of footage.

The film is most interesting when it dips into Canada's history as a 
haven of freedom for U.S. military refugees, and the recent 
reawakening of this role during the Iraq war. Unfortunately, this 
topic is addressed primarily to highlight Canada's peaceful, 
welcoming nature - which is, you know, really cool and un-American.

Escape to Canada is visually, if not intellectually, engaging, 
interspersing interviews, newsreels, rallies and Michael Moore-style 
montages with aerial footage of Canadian scenery and groovy satellite 
zoom shots. However, its material is so limited that it would work 
better as a much shorter op-ed news item.
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MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman