Rare Birds

Iceland-born Canadian filmmaker Sturla Gunnarsson spins this offbeat comedy about fine food and feathered friends. The owner of a failing gourmet eatery in a small Newfoundland town, Dave Purcell ( William Hurt ) is about to throw in the towel. As he raids his wine cellar and nurses his sorrows, his wacky friend Alphonse Murphy ( Andy Jones ) hatches a scheme to save the restaurant. They announce a faked sighting of a rare bird in the restaurant's vicinity, and soon bird watchers and even celebrities are pouring into the establishment. Dave's restaurant is so busy, in fact, that he hires Alphonse's shapely sister-in-law, Alice ( Molly Parker ), and in less time than it takes to burn a soufflé, romantic sparks are flying between the two. Unfortunately, Alphonse's schemes aren't limited to ornithological fraud. He has some hackneyed plan involving a submarine and a pile of cocaine that could bring down all that Dave has built. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival . — Jonathan Crow