The film may be named “Oh, Canada,” but a great deal of the drama in this takes place south of that nation’s border.
“Oh Canada,” from director Paul Schrader, centers on documentary filmmaker and professor Leo Fife (Richard Gere), an American who moved to Canada to avoid the draft during the Vietnam War. The film picks up with Leo, now a terminal cancer patient, being interviewed by a former student.
Now a documentary filmmaker himself, Malcolm (Michael Imperioli), is interviewing Leo for a movie about the man’s decision to avoid Vietnam and his award-winning film career. However, as Leo begins to reflect on his personal life as he is asked about various points in his past.
When watching a movie, a viewer wants an experience where both the journey and destination are satisfying. In the case of “Oh, Canada,” the destination is quite intriguing, but the journey at play is a rather mixed bag. Simply put, it has a person wanting much more.
As Leo is interviewed, he digs deep into his personal history, sharing a lot about past relationships, friendships and family connections, which eventually led to him crossing the border to the north. Because of Leo’s illness and exhaustion, he tends to bounce around a bit time-wise in his story and is somewhat of an unreliable narrator.
This is alright since we as an audience understand that he is a very sick man, plus, despite some events being told out of order, they still provide insight into a man who had trouble finding his place in the world. A viewer can gain some sympathy for Leo while also acknowledging him as a flawed individual.
As a character study, it works well enough, especially with how the film concludes. The big problem, though, is everything the movie doesn’t show the audience. This is a man who evaded military service during Vietnam and went on to become a documentary filmmaker, bringing important topics to light.
The viewer doesn’t really get any of that, though. We learn only bits and pieces of his career as documentary filmmaker, the same being true for his stances on Vietnam and other wars. Again, it’s fair for this man to be reflecting on his personal life rather than his career in his final days, but one really wishes there was more of a balance.
It just feels like the audience is missing out on something that could have made the movie more captivating. Schrader’s recent films “First Reformed” from 2018 and “The Card Counter” from 2021 felt much more layered and compelling than this one did for their mix of political commentary and exploration of a character’s psyche.
Richard Gere deserves a lot of credit, though, for his portrayal of the lead character. Leo is a man who appears to have pride and regrets, and there’s a pathos in his speech that is effective, and it works thanks to Gere. Jacob Elordi shouldn’t be overlooked either for doing a fine job performing as a younger version of Leo.
“Oh, Canada” can hold a viewer’s interest thanks to the reflective character drama, plus it’s powered by an admirable lead performance from Gere and features Schrader’s notable style that gives the film a richer identity. However, the movie is never quite as gripping as one feels it could be as it leaves out what could have made for fascinating political cinema. 3.3 out of 5.
Matthew Liedke on Film 
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