Fathers and Guns (Emile Gaudreault, 2009): Canada

Reviewed by Kathleen Amboy.  Viewed at Metro 4, Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

De Pere En Flic or Fathers and Guns, is a refreshingly funny film about a father/son undercover team in the middle of a sting operation.  When one of their own is taken hostage, dad Jacques Laroche (Michel Cote) accuses his son Marc (Louis-Jose Houde), a sharpshooter at the range, of being spineless and too slow on the draw.  After having his best friend taken before his eyes, Marc is bumped down to a desk job for his bumbling ways, thanks to his dad’s request.

Meanwhile Charles Berube (Remy Girard), a high-profile defense attorney is having problems of his own.  Charles successfully defends a group of motorcycle thugs (who hold the cop hostage), and thanks to his neglect, his son is suicidal, while Charles himself is having problems with his conscience – he talks in his sleep, revealing privileged information.

In a last ditch effort to salvage his relationship with his son, Charles and his son (Patrick Drolet) sign up for a father/son wilderness retreat, complete with therapist as nature guide.  Since Charles’ home is tapped, it seems the obvious next step is to send an undercover  father/son team to the retreat – enter Jacques and Marc, who can’t agree on anything.

Antics ensue as each pair of fathers and sons must participate in every exercise in the program, once it’s mud wrestling, while another is when the group must pick from a basket of dolls, describing how that particular doll represents his father (or son) – Marc chooses an Arabian clothed doll because he believes his dad is a member of the Taliban.

This film made heads turn last summer when it became an instant hit and the second highest grossing film in Quebec, ever!  Sony has bought the rights for a remake, while Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall are set to develop and produce it.

Most notable is the artwork in the title sequence, very clever upbeat and snappy.  Small silhouettes animate the plot of the film during the opening credits, grabbing the audience’s attention early on.  While this technique has been used before, it is highly amusing and worth focusing on.