Assuming you remember a certain smash hit of the 70s, Terry Jacks' SEASONS IN THE SUN(a bubble-gummy resurrection of Jacques Brel's terminal illness themed bummer), then your curiosity might be piqued by this obscure film which was apparently inspired by that song, and even stars Mr. Jacks. That said, you'll not be surprised to know that there is, indeed, a terminal illness narrative in play to keep it in-step with the song's subject matter. HOWEVER...I doubt you'd see this expecting........AN ESPIONAGE DRAMA?
That's right. Jacks portrays a pop superstar who's told by his doctor that he may have only a year left to live. He abandons his career to live quietly on a houseboat in the Canadian hinterlands, where he's inadvertently drawn into the search for a mysteriously missing man. He's concurrently bitten by the love bug, finds trouble with the boorish local yokels, and takes to hard drinking for peace of mind. This slow coach of situational toing-and-froing culminates in a limp resolve, with key issues left pending.
Canadian indie cinema of the 70s was often deficiently Bergmanesque, chafing inwardly on matters of life, death, and the in-between stuff. You get a good whiff of it in this picture...a preoccupation with nature's beauty, the inevitability of death, and Terry Jacks wearing a somber face of deep introspection as he maunders about aimlessly in mopish solitude. The tepid cloak and dagger spyjinx comes out of nowhere...a minimus of intrigue, replete with the obligatory femme fatale.
A dawdling little peanut of a movie which is blandly watchable, and only modestly interesting as a novelty for the presence of Terry Jacks.
4/10.
