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Movies & TV Movies & TV Reviews

French Immersion

FRENCH IMMERSION (Kevin Tierney). Some subtitles. 100 minutes. Opens Friday (October 7). For venues and times, see Movies. Rating: N


French Immersion, Kevin Tierney’s directorial debut, amateurishly revives the subject that made Bon Cop, Bad Cop (which he produced and co-wrote) such a hit.

The clash between anglophones and francophones is territory ripe for comedy, but this laboured attempt at humour doesn’t bear fruit.

A northern Quebec town has as its primary industry a linguistic institute that teaches ignorant anglophones to speak French. The whole community gets in on the act, whether by boarding students in their homes or flagging them on the street for speaking English.

The students in this overpopulated affair range from a Jewish NYC chef (the director’s son Jacob Tierney) to an openly gay New Brunswick MP (Gavin Crawford) planning to run for prime minister.

All have as much nuance as Rob Ford’s rhetoric, with the exception of Karine Vanasse as a lovesick school teacher who exudes character in a movie that has very little of its own.

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