Sticky Fingers (Ken Scott, 2009): Canada

Reviewed by Charles Hedrick. Viewed at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.

Out of all the Quebec films “Sticky Fingers” (also known as Les Doigts Croches, and directed by Ken Scott) was my least favorite, because of the fact that all it was, was a comedy, however that does not mean that it was not a good film. On the contrary “Sticky Fingers” was actually quite an enjoyable comedic film that made the audience pay attention to the character’s metamorphosis from start to finish, laughing the whole way. Also, like all the other Quebec films, “Sticky Fingers” had very impressive cinematography.

The plot of “Sticky Fingers” is original to say the least, however the theme is the ever popular theme of “change”. “Sticky Fingers” is a comedy about six of the worlds worst gangsters, who manage to steal two million dollars. However all but one of them are caught, and the remaining five spend four years in prison, while the one that escaped hid with the money. After the remaining five are released from prison they are forced to walk the famous Camino Road (which is a famous pilgrimage) and prove that they have changed by the end so that they can get their loot from four years ago. The film begins revolving around how the characters are going to trick their missing partner into thinking that they have changed on this journey, but soon the film starts to revolve around how the characters are actually beginning to changing.

One aspect of this film that I found to be incredible, like all the other Quebec films, was the cinematography. The way that this film was able to capture all the twists of the “El Camino Road” was particularly impressive. For instance there was a scene where the characters were all walking on the road, however the characters were on different parts of the road, so that gave the cinematographer a chance to show the road from an aerial perspective, showing how the sun reflects off the wheat growing around the road, and showing how the road twists and turns so that one can walk on a small patch of land for miles. This perspective really show’s how long these characters journey is going to be, yet how serene it is at the same time.

However while “Sticky Fingers” may have been enjoyable, and well shot, the reason that it did not match up to the other Quebec films was because of the fact that all it really had going for it was the comedy, there was nothing else. The reason why I loved the other Quebec films is because of the fact that they were multi-genre films (excluding “Polytechnique” of course). However what this film does have, it does it very well. So while this film may be an exceptional comedy, there is nothing else for people that want a little more than just pure comedy. So I strongly suggest this film for anyone that is looking for a light comedy that will keep you laughing the whole way, but for people who want something a little more than just a few laughs you will leave the theater a little disappointed.