''Curtis's Charm'' is a 1995 Canadian comedy-drama film written and directed by

John L'Ecuyer John L'Ecuyer (born November 15, 1964) is a Canadian film and television director. Biography John L'Ecuyer's first feature, ''Curtis's Charm'' (1995), was an adaptation of a Jim Carroll story. The film received a Special Jury Citation as Best Cana ...

in his directorial debut. The film won a special jury citation for Best Canadian Feature Film at the 1995 Toronto International Film Festival. Based on a short story by

Jim Carroll James Dennis Carroll (August 1, 1949 – September 11, 2009) was an American author, poet, autobiographer, and punk musician. Carroll was best known for his 1978 autobiographical work '' The Basketball Diaries'', which inspired a 1995 film of ...

, the film stars

Maurice Dean Wint Maurice Dean Wint is a British-born Canadian actor who has starred in several films and television shows. Life and career Wint was born in Leicestershire, England, and moved to Canada in 1967 with his family. He began to act in Toronto on sta ...

as Curtis, a

paranoid Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concer ...

drug addict who believes his mother-in-law has cast a voodoo spell on him, which has resulted in his being stalked by a killer squirrel. With the help of his friend Jim (

Callum Keith Rennie Callum Keith Rennie (born 14 September 1960) is a British-born Canadian actor who started his career in Canadian film and television projects, where his portrayal of Stanley Raymond Kowalski on the television series ''Due South'' was his first ...

), he tries to devise a

talisman A talisman is any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made. Talismans are often portable objects carried on someone in a variety of ways, but can also be installed perm ...

to protect him from the curse.

Cast

as Curtis *

as Jim * Rachael Crawford as Cookie * Barbara Barnes-Hopkins as Voodoo Ma * Aron Tager as Park Worker *

Hugh Dillon Hugh Dillon (born May 31, 1963) is a Canadian singer and actor who is the lead vocalist of rock band Headstones. He is also a film and television actor; his notable roles include Mike Sweeney in '' Durham County,'' Ed Lane in '' Flashpoint'' and ...

as Spitting White Trash Thug

Production

Filming began in April 1995, and took place over five weeks. It was shot on

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

16 mm film 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical Film gauge, gauge of Photographic film, film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 mm film, 8 and 35mm movie film, 35 mm. It is ...

Release

''Curtis's Charm'' premiered at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

on September 11, 1995.

Awards and nominations

The film garnered two

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for sc ...

nominations at the

17th Genie Awards The 17th Genie Awards were held on November 27, 1996, to honour films released in late 1995 and 1996. They were the ''second'' Genie Award ceremony held in that year; the 16th Genie Awards were delayed from the fall of 1995 and took place in Janu ...

in 1996: * Best Adapted Screenplay: L'Ecuyer * Best Original Score: Mark Korven (won)"1996 Genie Award winners". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'', December 1, 1996.

References

External links

* 1995 films 1995 comedy-drama films 1995 directorial debut films 1995 independent films 1990s Canadian films 1990s English-language films Canadian black-and-white films Canadian comedy-drama films Canadian independent films English-language Canadian films Films about addiction Films based on American short stories Films directed by John L'Ecuyer Films scored by Mark Korven Films set in Toronto {{1990s-Canada-film-stub