Oh Canada (Paul Schrader, 2024, USA/Israel)

Oh, Canada is Paul Schrader's latest film and finds the director reuniting once again with Richard Gere, who appeared as the star of Schrader's American Gigolo (1980). Based on the novel by Russell Banks, the film is essentially a retelling of the life of the fictional Leonard Fife, a draft dodger from the United States to Canada who gained notoriety making political documentaries. Now dying of cancer, Fife agrees to be part of a documentary film to document his legacy. Throughout filming the documentary, Fife gradually becomes more and more unhinged and begins losing touch with reality or becoming more open to revealing secrets about his past that even his wife (Uma Thurman) doesn't know.

Throughout all this, we are treated to flashbacks in which we revisit the experiences of the young Fife (played in flashback by new talent Jacob Elordi). These flashbacks are perhaps the weakest component of the film. The film is strongest in these interview segments with Fife in the present, as Gere becomes gradually more aggressive and confused throughout. Schrader, who is no doubt grappling with his legacy as he enters into the last stages of his life, uses Oh Canada as an exercise in documenting what legacy means, and how legacy is often a false construction.

While Oh Canada is not a misfire per se, it is perhaps not as strong as it could have been. This probably less to do with the actual storytelling and direction and more with the story itself, which is altogether not as compelling as - for example - Schrader's recent First Reformed (2017). It is more of a film that will be revisited by Schrader completists, but it is unlikely to garner an audience outside of the arthouse set. It is unfortunate, as the film deserves to be seen.

6/10