The Cocksure Lads is a Canadian movie. Within the first five minutes we are entreated to a goofy ants-eye-view shot of the CN Tower. This is the only way you can shoot the CN Tower from downtown Toronto.
Each character in the Cocksure Lads has been dutifully assigned one joke, in much the same way that each of the Cocksure Lads is assigned one woman. This one's a clean freak. This one doesn't know he's in Canada. This one has committed the unpardonable sin of liking Coldplay. This one simply is a gay stereotype(HAR HAR GUFFAW).
Actually, the way this film treats gay people was maybe the biggest surprise for me. Sure, it treats its women characters like dirt, but this is a film about men who are trying to live in the 60s. I expected that. Perhaps I should have also expected that its only gay characters would be (completely unnecessarily) written as "sissy villain" stereotypes. The film's first and last jokes come at their expense despite the fact that their only crime was to offer the Lads an exit strategy when it seemed things had fallen apart.
Blake and Derek's relationship subplots managed to hit just about every misogynistic trope they could have hoped to. Blake falls for a girl really just because she's sexy and willing. Then, she breaks up with him when it appears that he is no longer in a band because she's the sort of puddle of a human being who is EXCLUSIVELY into members of bands. She then cooks him a lasagna so he forgives her. Everything about their entire exchange is despicable and lazy.
The film builds itself up as the sort of oddball comedy that plays fast and loose with its own logic, but even then the lack of coherence is a real problem in this movie. Everyone acknowledges that their lyrics are terrible and the musicianship is passable at best. Why are they such hit? Why am I being made to sit through several music videos with intentionally bad music? Why am I being asked to sympathize with the characters making this music? What are the parameters of this joke? There is one funny joke in the film. I won't spoil it, but it concerns the best way to find a missing person.
One scene in particular is deserving of explicit scorn. The record shop scene. At first I thought it must be an attempt at parody, but throughout the rest of the film Chloe is treated as something of a voice of reason, a guiding light for Dusty. Why is she delivering this completely laughable defense of vinyl records? The language in this scene is wildly out of touch. In a way, reminiscent of a video of a rapping grandmother you might have seen on America's Funniest Home Videos back in the 90s.
Technically, the film is a bit of a mixed bag. The cinematography is at no point stunningly beautiful, but it is fairly consistent throughout. There's some elements of animation that serve more to disrupt the aesthetic of the film than anything. The sound design was by times distracting and rough. Lav rustling when there wasn't even any dialogue. Why? After the screening some of the cast and crew came into the theatre for a Q&A. Murray Foster & Co. talked about the film as being something new for Canadian cinema, a break from what they perceive as an endless barrage of dramatic coming-of-age films set in Canada's farthest flung reaches. Overlooking the fact that it takes ENORMOUS balls to talk tough about Mon Oncle Antoine as someone responsible for The Cocksure Lads, I heartily disagree with the notion that our present pre-occupation with regional dramas is what's wrong with Canadian cinema.
The problem with Canadian cinema is our overwhelming ability to settle for mediocrity and broken things simply because it's our mediocrity and they are our broken things. In this regard, Cocksure Lads is not refreshing, and it is nothing new. It is another scribbled note in a very long list.
Ultimately, I empathize with Foster. I agree that Canadian cinema is a bit of a mess and needs something new. But misogynistic jokes and poor writing are nothing new. You can't blame stuff like that on weather or budget and you most certainly should never settle for it.
Each character in the Cocksure Lads has been dutifully assigned one joke, in much the same way that each of the Cocksure Lads is assigned one woman. This one's a clean freak. This one doesn't know he's in Canada. This one has committed the unpardonable sin of liking Coldplay. This one simply is a gay stereotype(HAR HAR GUFFAW).
Actually, the way this film treats gay people was maybe the biggest surprise for me. Sure, it treats its women characters like dirt, but this is a film about men who are trying to live in the 60s. I expected that. Perhaps I should have also expected that its only gay characters would be (completely unnecessarily) written as "sissy villain" stereotypes. The film's first and last jokes come at their expense despite the fact that their only crime was to offer the Lads an exit strategy when it seemed things had fallen apart.
Blake and Derek's relationship subplots managed to hit just about every misogynistic trope they could have hoped to. Blake falls for a girl really just because she's sexy and willing. Then, she breaks up with him when it appears that he is no longer in a band because she's the sort of puddle of a human being who is EXCLUSIVELY into members of bands. She then cooks him a lasagna so he forgives her. Everything about their entire exchange is despicable and lazy.
The film builds itself up as the sort of oddball comedy that plays fast and loose with its own logic, but even then the lack of coherence is a real problem in this movie. Everyone acknowledges that their lyrics are terrible and the musicianship is passable at best. Why are they such hit? Why am I being made to sit through several music videos with intentionally bad music? Why am I being asked to sympathize with the characters making this music? What are the parameters of this joke? There is one funny joke in the film. I won't spoil it, but it concerns the best way to find a missing person.
One scene in particular is deserving of explicit scorn. The record shop scene. At first I thought it must be an attempt at parody, but throughout the rest of the film Chloe is treated as something of a voice of reason, a guiding light for Dusty. Why is she delivering this completely laughable defense of vinyl records? The language in this scene is wildly out of touch. In a way, reminiscent of a video of a rapping grandmother you might have seen on America's Funniest Home Videos back in the 90s.
Technically, the film is a bit of a mixed bag. The cinematography is at no point stunningly beautiful, but it is fairly consistent throughout. There's some elements of animation that serve more to disrupt the aesthetic of the film than anything. The sound design was by times distracting and rough. Lav rustling when there wasn't even any dialogue. Why? After the screening some of the cast and crew came into the theatre for a Q&A. Murray Foster & Co. talked about the film as being something new for Canadian cinema, a break from what they perceive as an endless barrage of dramatic coming-of-age films set in Canada's farthest flung reaches. Overlooking the fact that it takes ENORMOUS balls to talk tough about Mon Oncle Antoine as someone responsible for The Cocksure Lads, I heartily disagree with the notion that our present pre-occupation with regional dramas is what's wrong with Canadian cinema.
The problem with Canadian cinema is our overwhelming ability to settle for mediocrity and broken things simply because it's our mediocrity and they are our broken things. In this regard, Cocksure Lads is not refreshing, and it is nothing new. It is another scribbled note in a very long list.
Ultimately, I empathize with Foster. I agree that Canadian cinema is a bit of a mess and needs something new. But misogynistic jokes and poor writing are nothing new. You can't blame stuff like that on weather or budget and you most certainly should never settle for it.
