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Looking for Leonard (2002)
Synopsis: Looking for Leonard is a funny, urban fairy tale that tells the story of a girl, a boy, a gun and Leonard Cohen. A discontented Jo (Kim Huffman) robs corner stores and dry cleaners with her boyfriend Ted (Ben Ratner) and his brother Johnny (Darcy Belsher). When they are not pursuing their comic... Looking for Leonard is a funny, urban fairy tale that tells the story of a girl, a boy, a gun and Leonard Cohen. A discontented Jo (Kim Huffman) robs corner stores and dry cleaners with her boyfriend Ted (Ben Ratner) and his brother Johnny (Darcy Belsher). When they are not pursuing their comic book criminal life, Ted and Johnny stare at the TV, while Jo reads old Leonard Cohen paperbacks or goes to writing classes with her only friend, the religiously inspired, sex tinged Monica (Molly Parker). Enter Luka (Joel Bissonnette), a Czech computer programmer, who arrives in Montreal with a lousy old love life behind him and what he hopes is a wonderful new world in front. Unfortunately, his hopes don't last. With his employer out of business and his apartment a dump, Luka finds himself wandering a strange new city, a lonely man with nothing to do. Meanwhile things have been getting worse for Jo. Ted and Johnny have somehow become ambitious, and are now thinking about banks and other locales where real criminals go to work. When Jo refuses to go along with the new plan, Ted informs her that he and brother Johnny are taking a trip to another town for "criminal research". While the brothers are away Jo runs into Luka at a drug store and somewhere between the shampoo and deodorants they begin to fall into something, but nothing in life comes easy, particularly in matters of the heart, so when a first kiss leads to death, and romance to suspicion, Jo and Luka have to wonder what love might have to do with them. -- © 2002 Frustrated Films [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Kim Huffman, Benjamin Ratner, Justin Pierce, Molly Parker
Reviews
At its best (and it does have some very funny sequences) Looking for Leonard reminds you just how comically subversive silence can be.
An energetic and engaging film that never pretends to be something it isn't.
Our co-directors (and co-writers) have a lively way with the camera that belies their modest budget.
From the performances and wry dialogue to the sets and cinematography, Looking is a film with a lot of things going for it.
“Looking For Leonard” just seems to kinda sit in neutral, hoping for a stiff wind to blow it uphill or something.


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