A Canadian comedy gem. I think that is a good way to define The Untitled Work of Paul Shepard.

We here at The Mind Reels were lucky enough to attend the premiere last night at the Carlton Cinemas in Toronto, and were duly delighted.

The film is a mock-umentary that follows documetarian Paul Shepard (deftly played with humor and emotion by Kris Holden-Ried) after learning that an ex, Sadie (played with acerbic wit and viciousness by Christine Horne) has written a book based on their relationship, called Thoughts & Poems for the Man I Love To Hate, which Shepard notes is a strong title, and wonders if there’s enough hate to justify it, Sadie assures him there is.

Spurned on by this, Paul tracks down lost loves in an attempt to define the modern relationship and how it works in today’s society. By doing so he also explores the events, concepts, and beliefs that guided him through what is undeniably the minefield of his own love life.

Written, directed and edited by Jeremy Lalonde (who whether he knows it or not, gives off a Joss Whedon kinda vibe (awesome by the way) – we’ll be following his career here at TMR), the film slides gracefully from laugh out loud funny to bittersweet melancholy, constantly engaging the audience, as characters reveal themselves to us through Paul’s nephew Phil’s camerawork. (Which in itself is hilarious with it’s nods of agreement, and the occasional hand sneaking into frame to give a thumbs up, or steal a bun).

With the aid of his producer Ray (joyfully played by Alex Poch-Goldin) who would much rather have Paul work on a documentary about pandas, especially since they don’t have to sign release forms, Paul sets out on his journey to document Sadie’s book tour, as well as her always enjoyable fans (even when they don’t always understand what the subject matter is truly about), and slowly begins to explore where his relationships went wrong.

First up is the always enjoyable Zoie Palmer who plays “model-slash-actress” Hayley. Zoie, like Kris, is well known for her work in the Showcase series Lost Girl, but here she is given the chance to let her comedic skills shine, and undeniably has one of the funniest scenes in the film when Paul is allowed to interview her while she works which serves as a drastic counterpoint to her chilling follow-up interview later in the film where Hayley lets all of her anger, hurt and rage over what Paul has done to her explode.

I knew going in that I would enjoy both Zoie’s and Kris’ performance, because I’m a fan of both of them, and they did not let me down but Mary Krohnert as Sam was a revelation.

Paul had met her while working on a documentary, and Samantha is a shy, somewhat self-concious woman, who lights up when Paul promises to take her out for dinner should her interview suck.

They went out for dinner.

From there a natural and very believable relationship grows on camera, you see the joy of new love on both of them, and how that love changes and grows as their relationship changes and grows. Mary won me over in her role, and broke my heart when she reveals to the camera what she thinks she’s getting for Christmas from Paul and then to watch her expression when she find out what her gift really is.

Following that is the break-up scene on their 2 year anniversary, where after a huge argument about marriage, society, pieces of paper, love and relationships Sam says Paul is hurting her as he holds her.

Heartbreaking.

Beacuse you really did want to Paul come to his senses and see what he had with this woman.

When she doesn’t show up to be his date at a premiere, he knows for sure that he’s lost her.

Later when the documentary film crew are enjoying dinner at the Shepard household, Paul’s father inquires whether or not Lisa would be interviewed. Paul has been vehemently against this from the beginning but Ray being the producer that he is has already procured her number, and convinces Paul, finally, to interview her.

Then we see the could-have-been, the house, the family, the kids. Lisa (charmingly played by Tricia Braun in a role that almost plays as a stereotype but for her joy and happiness at where she is in her life as wife and mother) was Paul’s sweetheart in his senior year in high school, and while he left for the big city, she was content to stay where she was and marry Joey Jeremiah from Degrassi High, or rather Pat Mastroianni, in a surprise appearance.

Paul’s interview descends to cruel as he tries to tear her happiness apart with his own jealousy and pain about having been dumped all those years ago, and you can see that no matter how long ago the relationship was or how long it lasted, it had a defining impact on him.

All of this is woven together in a human tapestry of love, with threads of humor and sadness running through all of it, right up to its perfect ending.

Afterwards Jeremy and his producer and cast fielded questions from the audience and conveyed the sense of family that develops on small indie features. They answered questions about developing the script over 4 years to their 15 day shooting schedule to Jeremy’s editing suite being stolen as they were closing in on a picture lock, all interspersed with delightful quips from fan favorite Zoie.

The Untitled Work of Paul Shepard has garnered notices from several film festivals and is well worth your time, especially if you’ve ever fallen in love. So please make the effort to see it during it’s way too limited release, ignore the bigger tinsel town features and go find this little gem of a film.

You won’t regret it.

The Untitled Work of Paul Shepard is currently playing at the Carlton Cinemas at 4:25 and 9:20 daily.

 

*UPDATE* We just got confirmation from Director Jeremy Lalonde that they have another week at the Carlton. This doesn’t mean you should push it off til then to see it, this means you can go see it a few times! Get to it!