40 IS THE NEW 20 (Simon Boisvert). 93 minutes. Opens Friday (May 29). For venues and times, see Movies. Rating: N
Sitting through 40 Is The New 20, Quebec director Simon Boisvert’s first English-language feature, is like watching a summer-stock production of In The Company Of Men performed phonetically by people who’ve never acted before.
Degrassi vet Pat Mastroianni, head shaved Hugh Dillon-style, stars as a Montreal stock trader who runs into his former high school girlfriend (Claudia Ferri) and tries to rekindle the spark. She’s not interested, but he isn’t willing to give up.
So our hero conspires with his sexist-asshole buddy (Bruce Dinsmore) to get her a job at their firm, where they can plant spyware on her computer, audit her email and cellphone traffic and gradually steer her into his arms.
Writer/director Boisvert seems to think it’s all very clever, but his script is contrived and unpleasant, giving the actors little to do but mouth his dialogue with whatever conviction they can muster. Which ain’t much.
