New Waterford Girl

From the offbeat director of TIMES SQUARE and PUMP UP THE VOLUME comes this delightful offering of teenage angst in a small Maritime town. North Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia provides the backdrop for Allan Moyle to work his quirky magic and here he is in ultimate form. Working from the Tricia Fish script, who oddly enough was the assistant set decorator on another Sydney shot classic, MARGARET'S MUSEUM, Moyle captures the spirit of Capre Breton far better than anybody else I've seen. The problem I have with it is the same I have with the TRAILOR PARK BOYS, they present it as comedy and it isn't! Oh sure, it's damn funny alright but what folks don't seem to get is this is what Maritime life is REALLY like. Nowhere is this more apparant than in the performance of Nicholas Campbell as Francis Pottie. For a Toronto boy to pull off down homer like this is a true testament to his acting skills and his dialect is perfect, even more so than Mary Walsh, who I think is the most beautiful woman in the world, who sound Newf alright but she sure ain't Cape Bretoner, which incidently is nothing but a Newf with the brains bashed out anyway but that is a different story. Walsh is great as the wife of Campbell and they give the parental wall needed for 15 year old Moonie Pottie, played by Liane Balaban in her debut role, to bounce off of and with the introduction of a New Yorker in hiding, portrayed by Tara Spencer-Nairn who would later show up in CORNER GAS as Karen Pelly, all teenage hell breaks loose on the New Waterford strip. Andrew McCarthy (WEEKEND AR BERNIE'S, LESS THAN ZERO) and Cathy Moriarty give great support here and KIDS IN THE HALL head-crusher Mark McKinney has a fantastic bit part. Before closing, I must tell you to take a good look at the scenery, the stark beauty of the island is amazingly well utilized. Prepare yourself for one of the most heart warming films you will ever see!