Rare Birds

views updated

Rare Birds ★★½ 2001

Quirky Canadian comedy finds Dave Purcell (Hurt) depressed. His restaurant, located in the small town of Cape Spear, Newfoundland, is failing as is his longdistance marriage. But his eccentric neighbor Alphonse (Jones) comes up with a plan—he spreads the word among birders that a rare duck has been sighted and soon the area is flooded with amateur ornithologists, which is certainly good for Dave's business and his love life as he gets together with waitress Alice (Parker). Oh yeah, there's also Alphonse's plans for a cocaine shipment he's salvaged from a sunken boat, if he can keep away from the product himself. Based on the novel by Riche. 101m/C VHS, DVD . CA William Hurt, Molly Parker, Andy Jones, Cathy Jones, Sheila McCarthy, Vicky Hynes, Greg Malone; D: Sturla Gunnarsson; W: Edward Riche; C: Jan Kiesser; M: Jonathan Goldsmith.