PERFECTLY NORMAL [1990 / 2006] [DVD] [Dutch Release]
Canadian comedy film directed by Yves Simoneau!
The film stars Michael Riley as Renzo Parachi, a mild-mannered man living in the small town of Long Bay, Ontario, whose quiet, unassuming life working at the local brewery and playing hockey for the company team is transformed when Alonzo Turner [Robbie Coltrane] comes to town, ingratiating himself as Renzo Parachi's new roommate and convincing him to invest in an Italian restaurant where the servers will sing “Bellini's Norma.” Renzo Parachi's life is transformed by Alonzo Turner who has a passion for food and grand opera, and his own hazy dream of a restaurant called “La Traviata.” The discovery of a hoard of money brings both men's dreams within sight.
FILM FACT: Awards and Nominations: Genie Awards: 1991 Nominations: Best Motion Picture for Michael Burns. 1991 Win: Best Original Screenplay for Eugene Lipinski and Paul Quarrington. 1991 Nomination: Best Achievement in Art Direction for Anne Pritchard. 1991 Nomination: Best Achievement in Film Editing for Ronald Sanders.
Cast: Robbie Coltrane, Michael Riley, Deborah Duchene, Eugene Lipinski, Kenneth Welsh, Patricia Gage, Jack D. Nicholsen, Elizabeth Harpur, Kristina Nicoll, Peter Millard, Bryan Foster, Andrew Miller, Warren Van Evera, Douglas C. Frye, Graham Harley, Ellen-Ray Hennessy, Gene Dinovi, Gino Marrocco, Roc LaFortune, Harry Ditson, Paul Rainville, Rena Polley, Eric Keenleyside, Gina Vasic, Betti Orsatti, Tom Melissis, Vivian Reis, Paul Smart, Rummy Bishop, Paul Jolicoeur, Peter Windrem, Tom Anderson, Peter Faussett, Jay Bowen, Denis Kane, Joe Stark, Herb Reading, Emil Glassbourg, Mike Anderson, Jeff Peer, Al Campbell, Pierre Tetreau, Wally Wallchuck, Billy Martindale, Bob Wilson, Les Mann, Danny Biscaro, Steve Thomas, Peter Chin, Sean Hewitt, Dianne Heatherington, Joan Barrett (uncredited) and Jaap Broeker (uncredited)
Director: Yves Simoneau
Producers: Harry Ditson, Michael Burns and Rafe Engle
Screenplay: Eugene Lipinski (From the story of Eugene Lipinski) and Paul Quarrington
Composer: Richard Grégoire
Costume Design: Margaret Mohr
Wardrobe Mistress: Gail Filman
Wardrobe Assistant: Tracey Lee Sidney
Cinematography: Alain Dostie (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080i
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Audio: English: 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
Subtitles: Dutch
Running Time: 101 minutes
Region: PAL
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Bialystock & Bloom Productions Ltd / Téléfilm Canada / Ontario Film Development Corp / British Satellite Broadcasting / British Screen
Andrew‘s DVD Review: ‘PERFECTLY NORMAL’ [1990] This movie is totally brilliant, very clever and if you like thoughtfully tongue-in-cheek British paced humour, this movie is for you. Great cast, great screenplay... and subtle intelligent humour that will make you think.
The director, Yves Simoneau, describes these events in an elliptical style, giving us snatches of conversation, glimpses of attitude, moments that reveal character. Yves Simoneau uses a lot of opera on the sound track, often with a moving camera, so that we feel the strong presence of an outside point of view – this is not simply the story of what Renzo Parachi and Alonzo Turner do, but is a story about who they are and how events can change someone’s life forever.
It is the story of Renzo Parachi [Michael Riley], who leads a very dull and quite life... and likes it that way. Renzo Parachi works at the local brewery's bottling plant and plays goalie for the company hockey team. Renzo Parachi also drives a cab at night, where he picks up a fare who will change his life – Robbie Coltrane as Alonzo Turner.
Within minutes Alonzo Turner has with a slight of hand infiltrated himself into Renzo Parachi's life... and suddenly this quiet, unassuming man discovers that everyone wants something from him. Renzo Parachi's boss at the factory will do anything to transform the hockey team into winners at any cost... and the girl at the ice rink will do anything for his chastity... and Alonzo Turner will stop at nothing to get what he wants.
If you like slow, stylish, cynically heart-warming humour... this movie is for you. This isn't “Sleepless in Seattle’ or ‘When Harry Met Sally.’ This is a totally brilliantly conceived, written, directed and an acted out masterpiece that exalts the multifaceted idiosyncrasies of the great white north, combining it with a deft touch of the quieter side of British humour. It combines the love of humour, hockey and music in a tale of romance and transformation that is really smart.
Kenneth Walsh is great as the no-holds-barred coach that will fake cancer to motivate his team. Michael Riley gives a performance even more subdued and complex. And Robbie Coltrane is a hugely under-appreciated British/Scottish comic talent, who is now sadly missed. I seldom gush over a movie... but this one hits the spot. If you're looking for a fun movie that will make you laugh, this is the one to watch and miss at your peril.
Michael Riley gives a really great performance as an ordinary guy who works at two hum-drum jobs and lives a pretty boring life. Robbie Coltrane comes into his life and changes it for the creative better. As always, Robbie Coltrane is over-the-top with his portrayal of a failed, but always hopeful restauranteur. The dialogue is very witty especially from Kristina Nichol, who has a minor role in the film, but also a standout performance role. Eugene Lipinski, who also wrote the original story and co-wrote the screenplay, gives a hilarious performance as the jealous, slightly menacing psycho. Kenneth Welsh is equally funny as the obsessed-to-win hockey coach and boss.
Director Yves Simoneau uses the stereotypes of Canada, the beer factory, the hockey rink, the snow-covered wilderness, as his setting to examine its relationship with its bombastic neighbour to the south. But instead of a heavy geopolitical study it's actually a hoot. Yves Simoneau throws in opera and cross-dressing for fun, and Scottish comedian Robbie Coltrane gives a fabulous performance that almost steals the show and of course Robbie Coltrane is up to his usual typical larger than life character. Yet the entire cast hits their performances so well and on target, with the smaller parts especially shining. Beautifully shot, it's a totally gem of a film.
The film ‘PERFECTLY NORMAL’ is also very well acted, well written, well shot and especially well edited. If you're looking for formula comedy, you'd better off with some other film. Otherwise, sit back and enjoy the ride.
This wonderful comedy deserves to be widely viewed; very funny, and one of the few films ever to film hockey the way those who love it really experience it. Few films have ever better represented upper Canadian humour. Michael Riley and Robbie Coltrane have a wonderful chemistry, and the one-liners are side-splitting. Kenneth Walsh as the putatively dying coach is classic. Contrary to what some negative comments, this movie actually captures the look and feel of beer-league hockey. It also deals very funnily with the stress of working on the line (in this case at a beer-bottling plant), of the difficulty of dealing with assembly line production that just keeps on coming. I would recommend this film to anyone!
‘PERFECTLY NORMAL’ is not to be missed at your peril. Unfortunately, and criminally, it is not available on DVD in the U.S.A, yet the movie ‘Ishtar’ is. Go figure this conundrum!
PERFECTLY NORMAL MOVIE TRACK LIST
ROMEO AND JULIET (Composer Sergei Prokofiev)
NORMA (Composer Vicenzo Bellini)
LA TRAVIATA (Composer Giuseppe Verdi)
REQUIEM (Composer Giuseppe Verdi)
IL TROVATORE (Composer Giuseppe Verdi)
AIDA (Composer Giuseppe Verdi)
SYMPHONY No.9 (Composer Gustav Mahler)
SYMPHONY No.8 (Composer Gustav Mahler)
TOSCA (Composer Giacomo Puccini)
MANON LESCAUT (Composer Giacomo Puccini)
SALOME (Composer Richard Strauss)
SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE (Composer Louis-Hector Berlioz)
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DVD Image Quality – Bialystock & Bloom Productions Ltd, Téléfilm Canada, Ontario Film Development Corp, British Satellite Broadcasting and British Screen presents us this film ‘PERFECTLY NORMAL’ with a 1080i image and is presented with a 1.66:1 aspect ratio and not the 1.85:1 aspect ratio as printed on the back of the DVD cover. The colours are fairly average for a film of this calibre; especially with the mid-range colours are mostly rendered. All in all, this is a fairly standard looking DVD, but despite this, it does not matter as it is the most glorious exceptional film. Please Note: Playback PAL: This will not play on most Blu-ray and DVD players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about the region specifications.
DVD Audio Quality – Bialystock & Bloom Productions Ltd, Téléfilm Canada, Ontario Film Development Corp, British Satellite Broadcasting and British Screen brings us the film ‘PERFECTLY NORMAL’ with just one standard 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio experience. The audio is nicely rounded and also gives us a good dynamic range and is also very clear, and a well-modulated sound with no distortion or age-related surface noise, pops, or crackles and the dialogue from the actors is very clear and precise and especially you can hear all the actors speaking without any hindrances and definitely no distortion. Also outstanding is all the famous classical music scores that really adds ambience to this exceptional film that really helps you to enjoy this amazing audio experience of this excellent “tongue-in-cheek” Canadian comedy film even more, so well done all the amazing companies that were involved in bringing out the film ‘PERFECTLY NORMAL’ that really gives the soundtrack a five star performance.
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Finally, ‘PERFECTLY NORMAL’ [1990] here you wouldn't think a movie could be inspired by both ‘The Producers’ and ‘Taxi Driver,’ but I guess it can. This odd and apparently little-seen Canadian movie from 1990 is wondrous in how firmly it holds its own peculiar space in the world. It stirred barely a smile for the first hour yet by the end I could not restrain one. This little gem of a movie is a comedy that we never quite expected to end up to be a comic genius film. It goes its own way, somehow delivering its almost defiantly downbeat protagonist to a moment of improbable and full-hearted grace by the end. It's a quiet charmer of a movie. It's not for everyone but those who like it will probably I know for a fact will love it. There's no easy way to describe it. All I can say is it involves hockey, a brewery, opera and of course the brilliant and over the top comic genius Robbie Coltrane who is very sadly missed. I am in the love with this over the top camp funny film. Just give it a chance. Let it do what it does as you will love it. ‘PERFECTLY NORMAL’ is one of my all-time favourite hidden gems. This offbeat Canadian comedy wasn't widely released, and sadly, it has almost completely disappeared into obscurity. Remarkably unusual, and funny as hell. And a veritable rogues gallery of Canadian character actors. An utter total hoot. Very Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
