Rating: 
Summary: A rather charming tale of conspiracies, birds, love and food
Review: "Rare Birds" chronicles the life of Dave (William Hurt), chef of "The Auk" in a small coastal town in Newfoundland. Business is sagging, and Dave is preparing to sell the restaurant when wacky Fonce (Newfoundlander Andy Jones in a brilliant turn as always) cooks up a scheme involving the sighting of a rare bird (in reality, an extinct duck) to bring flocks of birdwatchers to the area and boost business. The plan works, but the two get more than they bargain for: there are numerous other subplots, some unnecessary, such as the cocaine stash, a love affair between Dave and Alice, Fonce's bookish sister-in-law, the RCMP Bulgarian light conspiracy, and the Winnebegos. Molly Parker's Alice was a delight, as was Andy Jones' neurotic Fonce. I thought that the entire cocaine subplot was unnecessary. The bathroom humour seemed too base as well, although limited to one (thankfully) brief scene. Although Ebert regards "Rare Birds" as more of a wacky Newfoundland character study than "The Shipping News," I disagree. I found that "The Shipping News" had a much more engaging plot and much more involved characters. The pacing of "Rare Birds" is sometimes slow and awkward, and I didn't really relate to Hurt's character, which made it much harder to enjoy the film as a whole. The DVD offers very little in the way of special features, mainly a few computer-generated sets from production designs, a trailer (which shows what the film *could * have been if it had lost the excess baggage) and a commentary by director Sturla Gunnarsson. "Rare Birds" is rated R for language and drug use.
Rating: 
Summary: A great farce by great players.
Review: As opposed to Hollywood's formula of slapping you up 'side the head to get a laugh, this gem is a tickler of your intellect. William Hurt is as usual thoughtful, engaging and believable. His partners in this thoroughly enjoyable film are wonderfully played and combine with the beautiful "land's end" feel of coastal Newfoundland for one of the best films in a long time for me. Found surfing HBO. Will certainly get the DVD.
Rating:
Summary: A great farce by great players.
Review: As opposed to Hollywood's formula of slapping you up 'side the head to get a laugh, this gem is a tickler of your intellect. William Hurt is as usual thoughtful, engaging and believable. His partners in this thoroughly enjoyable film are wonderfully played and combine with the beautiful "land's end" feel of coastal Newfoundland for one of the best films in a long time for me. Found surfing HBO. Will certainly get the DVD.
Rating: 
Summary: MOSTLY INTERESTING
Review: Good beginning, interesting plot, but the interest dried up a bit towards the end. Overall I would recommend this movie. It was nice to see such an innocent movie for a change with realistic everyday characters.
Rating:
Summary: Canadian Are Different
Review: Hurt plays a down on his luck Canadian cook whose wife goes to the USA for the glamour and money that can only be satisfied in the "real world". Hurt, the chef makes fine food for rough Canadian tourists who have no appreciation for his artfulness. He secretly longs to go to the USA, the only place where you truly live. Yet his liking of cocaine and an ex-stripper waitress keeps him feeding these nutty Canadian bird watchers, a few of whom offer to buy his little restaurant while these purely Canook eccentrics descend on the small New Foundland/Arcadian town to see a fictious bird that stands as a metaphor for every Canadian's secret dream of disappearing to the USA. The female lead is what passes for Canadian sexiness while she couldn't get a date in the USA.
Rating:
Summary: MOSTLY INTERESTING
Review: I came upon this little jewell on the recommendation of a friend and last night, Thanksgiving weekend, the whole family sat down and chuckled through the WHOLE film ... To have the whole group finish a complete film is amazing in itself ... since it's either the young ones or the old ones get bored half way through most of today's movie fave and slip out of the room... The movie deals with the owner of a falgging sea coast resaurant, Dave (William Hurt) bemoaning to his neighbour, Phonce (Andy Jones) that he will have to close the place and move back to the city since his nuveau cuisine restaurant idea wasn't too polular at all. Course our whacky neighbour friend not only helps Dave concoct a wild story about and spotting extinct bird near the restaurant but then also takes our reluctant hero on a roller coaster ride adventure that includes secret lights, drugs, submarines, Winnebago spies, love ..... Oh yes, Molly Parker plays Phonce's the young sister in law Alice, who is visiting while wating for a scholarship, offering the shy hero of our movie an addeed dimension in this super great story .... Definitely put this DVD on your list of movies your whole family will enjoy ... and in todays market of Matrixced out fare you will see this film over and over again ..
Rating:
Summary: A pure delight .....
Review: I came upon this little jewell on the recommendation of a friend and last night, Thanksgiving weekend, the whole family sat down and chuckled through the WHOLE film ... To have the whole group finish a complete film is amazing in itself ... since it's either the young ones or the old ones get bored half way through most of today's movie fave and slip out of the room... The movie deals with the owner of a falgging sea coast resaurant, Dave (William Hurt) bemoaning to his neighbour, Phonce (Andy Jones) that he will have to close the place and move back to the city since his nuveau cuisine restaurant idea wasn't too polular at all. Course our whacky neighbour friend not only helps Dave concoct a wild story about and spotting extinct bird near the restaurant but then also takes our reluctant hero on a roller coaster ride adventure that includes secret lights, drugs, submarines, Winnebago spies, love ..... Oh yes, Molly Parker plays Phonce's the young sister in law Alice, who is visiting while wating for a scholarship, offering the shy hero of our movie an addeed dimension in this super great story .... Definitely put this DVD on your list of movies your whole family will enjoy ... and in todays market of Matrixced out fare you will see this film over and over again ..
Rating:
Summary: One man's "boring" is another's "charming"
Review: I couldn't disagree more with calling this little film "boring" or "messy," as described in another review. It is certainly quiet and quirky, however, along the lines of "Waking Ned Devine" or "Local Hero" or "Saving Grace." There are plenty of other reviews which will describe the plot and characters, so I will not here. I just wanted to give it a thumbs up, for the crowd that likes these kinds of films. It's not slapstick and doesn't try to be. But I know there's room on the shelf for this little gem amongst the Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey films. I personally came upon it on TV late at night, and went to the computer to order it on DVD immediately. Just the thing for a rainy night in front of the fire with hot chocolate. Give it a try.
Rating:
Summary: Really Funny Offbeat Movie
Review: I say this is really funny and it was to me. I saw this in an arthouse theater in SLO and laughed my head off, unfortunately more than half the audience did not. Many were not amused. Whats happening out there? This movie has the most audacious characters. Especially Phonce, Andy Jones, who is so believable in his role. Actually all the actors were excellent! Probably some of the best acting I've seen for awhile. The story weaves around the beautiful coast of NewFoundLand and William Hurt's characters restaurant, The Auk. Hurt is a great cook but his place is located in some remote seaside area, which causes a lack of customers. Anyways, Phonce, who is always the creative planner, the leader in the twosome, comes up with some zany ideas to bring fortune to Hurts character and also to himself. The scenes involving the mini submarine are some of the funniest I've seen in awhile. Like I said though, many in the theater were not even cracking a smile, this is an offbeat comedy so may appeal to some and not to others. Unique and different, these characters are the real rare birds in this cool little film. Also the actress, I think Molly Parker?? does another great job in getting her role to shine, even without alot of film time, well done!
Lisa Nary
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious gem
Review: I was channel surfing when I stumbled upon this movie. There was nothing else so I decided to watch it since it starred William Hurt. The characters in this film are a hoot! I couldn't stop laughing. This whole movie was built around one simple idea. How do you drum up business for an ailing restaurant. The actors in this film are the real "Rare Birds".
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