''I Love a Man in Uniform'' is a 1993 Canadian film, written and directed by David Wellington. A dark psychological drama, it received a score of 60% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

Plot

Henry Adler, a bank employee and struggling actor, finally gets his big break when he is cast as a police officer in a television series. When Adler is finally cast in his role as Flanagan on the cop show ''Crimewave'', Adler quits his job as a bank employee and immerses himself into his role. As Adler begins to commit further to his role as Flanagan, he begins to identify too closely with the sense of power and authority that comes with wearing the police uniform. Adler takes to wearing the police uniform from the set in public, as if he were a real police officer, and gradually loses his grip on reality. He begins to roam the streets of

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, acting as though he is a police officer and interacting with citizens as if he is a police officer. This leads to Adler getting in trouble with his boss, who is not impressed that Adler is pretending he is a cop off set, however, this does not bother Adler. He blurs the line between fantasy and reality as he slips further into his fictional reality. While on the set of ''Crimewave'', Adler falls for Charlie Warner, one of the female actresses on the show. They begin to rehearse their roles together offset, however, Charlie is quickly put off by Adler's quirks and his intensity and cuts Adler off. This sends Adler spiralling, causing him to become sporadic with his actions.

Cast

Tom McCamus Tom McCamus (born July 25, 1955Tom McCamus' bio
at www.northernstars.ca) is a Canadia ...

as Henry Adler *

Brigitte Bako Brigitte Bako (born May 15, 1967) is a Canadian actress, producer, and writer. Following her film debut in '' New York Stories'' (1989), Bako had supporting roles in films such as '' One Good Cop'' (1991) and '' Strange Days'' (1995), as well as a ...

as Charlie Warner *

Kevin Tighe Kevin Tighe (; born Jon Kevin Fishburn; August 13, 1944) is an American actor who has worked in television, film, and theater since the late 1960s. He is best known for portraying firefighter-paramedic Roy DeSoto, on the 1972–1977 NBC series ' ...

as Frank *

Daniel MacIvor Daniel MacIvor (born July 23, 1962) is a Canadian actor, playwright, theatre director, and film director. He is probably best known for his acting roles in independent films and the sitcom '' Twitch City''. Personal MacIvor was born in Sydney, ...

as Director *

Henry Czerny Henry Czerny ( ; born February 8, 1959) is a Canadian stage, film, and television actor. He is known for his roles in the films '' The Boys of St. Vincent'', ''Clear and Present Danger'', '' The Ice Storm'', '' The Exorcism of Emily Rose'', '' Fid ...

as Joseph Riggs *

Albert Schultz Albert Hamilton Schultz ( ; born July 30, 1963) is a former Canadian actor, director and the founding artistic director of Toronto's Soulpepper Theatre Company. He resigned his position with Soulpepper after sexual allegations against Schultz bec ...

as Businessman * J. D. Nicholsen as Archer *

Matthew Ferguson Matthew Ferguson (born 3 April 1973) is a Canadian former actor. He is known for his roles in '' On My Own'' (1991), ''Love and Human Remains'' (1993), ''Lilies'' (1996), and '' La Femme Nikita'' (1997–2001). Life and career Ferguson was bo ...

as Edward Nichols * Michael Hogan as Detective Itch *

David Hemblen David Hemblen (16 September 1941 – 16 November 2020) was an English–Canadian actor who frequently worked in Canadian film, television and theatre. He was born in London, England, and grew up in Toronto, Ontario. He is known for his role as ...

as Father

Awards

McCamus won the

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), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculptor ...

as Best Actor for his performance. Tighe won the ''Genie Award'' for Best Supporting Actor.

Reception

''I Love a Man in Uniform'' opened in 1993, and as of May 30, 2022, has a 60% rating on

. A review of the movie on Empireonline.com called the film "a hugely impressive and highly compelling first feature guaranteed to please anyone not put off by daft titles and obscure plots"

Year-end lists

* Honorable mention – David Elliott, ''

The San Diego Union-Tribune ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

References

External links

* 1993 films English-language Canadian films Canadian drama films Films directed by David Wellington 1993 drama films 1990s English-language films 1990s Canadian films {{1990s-drama-film-stub