This English-language remake of Jean-François Pouliot's 2003 Québécois film La grande séduction (aka Seducing Doctor Lewis) was once earmarked as a vehicle for Robin Williams, with original writer Ken Starbuck Scott directing. As it is, we have Brendan Gleeson (of no fixed accent) sleepwalking his way through a tale of a Newfoundland fishing port conspiring to "seduce" a visiting doctor (dreary Taylor Kitsch) in order to secure job-making petrochemical investment.

At best, this aspires to the whimsical charm of Local Hero; at worst, it simply steals from it. From the noodly Knopfleresque score to the scenes of tycoons arriving by helicopter while locals sneak en masse in and out of the church, Don McKellar's film keeps reminding you that you'd much rather be watching something (anything) by Bill Forsyth. Not so grand.