Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Pretty Good

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

There are 2 types of film in the Canadian film industry. First there is French Canadian cinema which produces films in the French language (and some in the English language) and like its counter parts in Europe, Asia, etc., come up with engaging, excellent and in many cases masterpieces. Then there the one which is linked more to the American film industry and Hollywood which nowadays appear to produce a lot of trash. Maudie, Aisling Walsh's biopic of Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis, admittedly someone I had never heard of, pertains to the latter. Sally Hawkins was ok as the apparently humble Maud, while Ethan Hawk made a very good obnoxious Everett, but the entire film was very weak because none of the characters had much to say. There was nothing about what inspired Lewis, what makes her tick, in fact the whole film was totally devoid of any type of character study that should have featured in a work of this subject. To be honest, there was not anything much we haven't seen or heard in the average Hollywood fare. I fell that Director Walsh missed out on a great opportunity to make a poetic and philosophical movie. By using well-known actors instead of unfamiliar ones and exploring the subject instead of analysing it only goes to show that the producers were only interested in getting bums on seats, enticing people to go to the cinema believing they are getting a good film. They are not.

Most of the sentiments I feel about this film are already written in the many reviews here, so will not repeat. A great film, great cinematography and superb acting. In my you must watch this list.

Few films have moved me this much. Few have inspired me to write a review. Sally Hawkins is simply amazing. She should, but will not, win the Academy Award for Best Actress (The Shape of water). That said, her performance her eis even greater! Think Brando in "On the Waterfront," Streep in "Sophie's Choice," Olivier in "Othello," Stanwyck in "Stella Dallas." Sally's performance puts her in that select company. Then there is Ethan Hawke. What a remarkable performance in a low key, unglamorous role. Possibly his best ever. Understated yet remarkable. Few movies move me like "Maudie" did. "Random Harvest," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "A Very Long Engagement," "Field of Dreams" and now this jewel. Do not let it slip past you.

In the typical Hollywood success story, a talented individual starts out in life with a full head of steam, gets a bad break, and then, with the help of a teacher or other mentor, overcomes adversity and the story ends on a note of triumph and tears. Things are not so simple, however, for Canadian folk artist Maud Dowley Lewis (Sally Hawkins, "The Shape of Water") in Irish director Aisling Walsh's ("Fingersmith", TV miniseries) fact-based film Maudie. Written by Sherry White and powerfully performed by Hawkins, the film depicts how Maud, a self-taught painter, achieved notoriety at home after her paintings were brought to the attention of then Vice-President Richard Nixon, but had to face a lifelong struggle with crippling rheumatoid arthritis and a contentious relationship with her husband (Ethan Hawke, "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets."Spanning several decades beginning in the 1930s in rural Nova Scotia, Maud is constantly berated by her controlling Aunt Ida (Gabrielle Rose, "The BFG") but reaches the breaking point when she learns that her brother Charles (Zachary Bennett, "Hacker") has sold the family home in which Maud grew up in and to which she was eager to return. When she tells Charles that she could look after the house, he rudely tells her that, "You can't even look after yourself." Eager to leave Aunt Ida, Maud notices an ad in the local dry-goods store seeking a housekeeper and agrees to work for Everett Lewis, an illiterate fish merchant who lives in a tiny 10 by 12 foot house on the outskirts of town, a house without heat or electricity. Here Maud is happy to cook his meals and sleep every night in his bed in the loft, simply because there is no alternative. Lewis, who was raised in an orphanage and whose gruff communication consists of little more than grunts and groans, tells the young woman that his dogs come first in order of their importance to him, then his chickens, then her. When frustrated, he lashes out not only verbally but physically as well, though the film mercifully only shows one such incident. At age 34, Maud has no place to go and is forced to remain with Everett. Refusing to accept the role of being a martyr, she begins to decorate the walls, doors, and windows of the home and starts to paint birds, flowers, cats, and the landscapes around her. Things do not really change with Everett, however, until she begins to sell her paintings to Sandra (Kari Matchett, "The Good Doctor" TV series), a summer visitor from New York who falls in love with her post card creations and becomes a good friend. Soon, an article in a local magazine brings further attention to her paintings and she begins to be noticed and accepted in the community, though her work never sold for more than a few dollars and was stashed away by her husband. As Everett begins to mellow, they marry and the film takes on the semblance of a love story, even Aunt Ida admitting that Maud is the only one in the family who seems happy. As she grows older, however, her arthritic pain becomes worse until she can hardly hold a brush. In spite of her growing frailty complicated by emphysema, a result of a lifetime of chain smoking, Maud was still able to express her joy in life through her art, a testament to her inner strength, one that turns a potentially grim story into a life-affirming experience.