Fashionably Late...c'mon & meet Paul Gross
My nominee for Can Con Captain Canada for his extensive body of work exploring Canadian values, both past and present
Hello friends!
Another weekend dawns on our current national crisis, and despite my best efforts to stay away, I have been doom-scrolling along with the rest of the country.
Tariffs, annexation, guerrilla warfare, protecting our water and rare earth minerals, and amidst it all, a likely federal election call.
So how do you want to spend this weekend? Diving into the issues or stepping away?
Enter Paul Gross, a strong nominee for the role of Captain Canada in contemporary Can-Con.
He’s the heart and soul of Slings and Arrows, starring as Geoffrey Tennant, the destructively creative artistic director of the New Burbage Theatre, who shows us the modern-day relevance of three of English literature’s greatest dramas, Hamlet, Macbeth and King Lear. He holds our attention as he weaves his way through comedy and tragedy. He’s witty, smart and, with that devilish grin, difficult to resist.
The son of a career soldier and tank commander, Gross was born in Calgary, but his father’s postings meant the family moved a lot, to England, Germany, Virginia and a stint in New Brunswick at CFB Gagetown.
His career began on the stage in the early 80s after studying theatre at the University of Alberta, and he made his TV acting debut in the 1986 Canadian docudrama Turning to Stone. He first played the romantic leading man in 1988 with the WWI-era drama Chasing Rainbows, and he’s been working steadily in film, TV and stage, in both Canada and the United States ever since.
Below are six recommendations for exploring Canada, both its frivolity and its frictions, through the work of Paul Gross.
Buried on Sunday, 1992
Actor
Gross stars as Augustus Knickel, the mayor of the fictional island of Solomon Gundy, located off the coast of Nova Scotia. It’s facing an economic crisis because of the Canadian government’s cod moratorium.
But then, as luck would have it, an errant Russian nuclear submarine surfaces, which had some trouble of its own. The crew had mutinied, leaving only four members aboard the ship, including the cook – now the highest-ranking official – and the guy who programs the missiles, who had been taken prisoner.
Seizing the opportunity, Augustus buys the nuclear sub from the cook, and then discovers a cache of missiles, which he uses as leverage to declare Solomon Gundy an independent nuclear power.
The film also stars Maury Chaykin, Henry Czerny, Thomas Sexton and a blink-and-you-might-miss-it appearance from Codco’s Mary Walsh and Andy Jones and Trailer Park Boys creator Mike Clattenburg.
Where to watch: YouTube
Due South, 1994-1999
Actor, writer, executive producer
Is there another Canadian TV show that is, well, so Canadian? If you want to have fun with Canadian stereotypes, settle in for some episodes of Due South, which ran successfully in Canada, the UK and to a lesser extent on CBS in the US. Gross starred as Constable Benton Fraser, who travels to Chicago to solve the murder of his father, only to stay on as a liaison with the Canadian consulate, working with streetwise American detective Ray Vecchio, played by David Marciano.
Gorden Pinsent played the ghost of Benton’s dad, the equally stalwart Mountie, Sgt. Robert Fraser, and Leslie Nielsen is Sgt. Buck Frobisher. The names alone, make this a fun watch.
If you were watching TV in Canada in the late 1990s, you were likely watching Due South.
Where to watch: YouTube – Due South YouTube Playlist
As a bonus, here’s the music video for ‘Ride Forever’ from the Due South soundtrack, which includes Leslie Nielsen lip-synching, Gordon Pinsent looking his most stalwart AND a musical ride charging after the bad guy, played by Kenneth Welsh. That’s three Canadian acting greats and a busful of Mounties. You’re welcome.
Men With Brooms, 2002
Actor, writer, director
Gross directs and stars in this curling comedy alongside Leslie Nielsen, Molly Parker and a brief cameo by The Tragically Hip, playing a rival rink from Kingston.
When curling coach Donald Foley dies, his will includes the codicil demanding the team he coached a decade ago come together and enter the big bonspiel so they can win the Golden Broom and place his ashes in a stone and place it on the button.
Gross stars as Chris Cutter, the former skip, who left town after failing to call a burnt stone, abandoning his fiancée, Julie. Chris returns, gets the team together, and as the lads get back in curling form, they work through their individual issues, which include low-sperm counts, petty crime and marriage woes.
The opening song is “Land of the Silver Birch”, a traditional Canadian folk song that dates back to the 1920s and was a popular canoeing and campfire song that for a long time was popular with Canadian Boy Scouts and Girl Guides.
These little love notes to Canada, interspersed with that wry, why-are-we-so-provincial Canadian type of humour is a common tone in Paul Gross’s work.
It’s a sweet film but it is a product of its time, when budgets were smaller. Despite its shortcomings, the film has a strong fan base to get a Men With Brooms single-season TV series green-lit in 2010.
Where to watch: CBC Gem & Crave
Passchendaele, 2008
Actor, writer, director, producer
Gross wrote, directed, co-produced and starred in this film, which based on stories his grandfather told him about the First World War.
Gross stars as Canadian soldier Michael Dunne, named for his grandfather, who survives the Battle of Vimy Ridge and returns home to Calgary, Alberta where he meets nurse Sarah Mann, played by Caroline Dhavernas.
When her brother David enlists, Michael reenlists to look after David. Sarah also enlists as a field nurse, and the three arrive in Flanders, France, just as the Battle of Passchendaele begins.
David and Michael are assigned to the 10th Battalion, a real battalion formed by Canadian men from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The Fighting 10th set the record for the highest number of individual bravery awards for a single battle.
For Passchendaele, prepare for tears and a strong dose of Canadian pride.
Where to watch: CBC Gem & Crave
Hyena Road, 2015
Actor, writer, director, producer
In this, the companion piece to Passchendaele, Gross turns his lens on Afghanistan. The film is based on the true story of how Task Force Kandahar built Route Hyena through Taliban territory. The focus is soldiers within Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry – the Princess Pats, as they’re commonly known.
Gross stars as Intelligence Officer Captain Pete Mitchell, Rossif Sutherland is Warrant Officer Ryan Sanders, and you’ll recognize a young Allan Hawco as Master Corporal Travis Davidson.
I attended the Hyena Road premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) a decade ago, and I’ve been recommending it to anyone who loves a good military movie or some heart-pounding Canadian action. It remains one of my favourite Canadian films.
Where to watch: CBC Gem
H2O, 2004
Actor, writer, executive producer
My final recommendation is for a film I haven’t seen, but boy, reading about it, I knew I had to include it on the list. I think Paul Gross was channelling his inner Nostradamus when he wrote this script. Here’s how production company Whizbang Films describes it.
When Canada’s Prime Minister drowns in what appears to be a boating accident, his son Tom McLaughlin (Gross) takes office and is drawn into a deceptive world of power and corruption.
The investigation into his father’s death, however, reveals that it was no accident and raises the possibility of assassination. The Prime Minister accepts the U.S. President’s plan to help the United States with its water shortage, while investigators piece together evidence of a conspiracy that threatens Canada’s existence.”
H2O was followed in 2008 with The Trojan Horse, which saw Canada absorbed into the United States, with Tom McLaughlin, supported by shadowy Europeans, mounting a Presidential run in order to exact revenge.
Where to watch: H2O is streaming on Vimeo courtesy of Whizbang Films. I can’t find streaming options for The Trojan Horse.
One final note: For those who find themselves in New York City this spring, Gross is appearing as William Paley in George Clooney’s Broadway adaptation of his 2005 film, Good Night and Good Luck, now in previews at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York City. It opens April 3rd for a limited run until June 8th.