what i'm watching: canada sighting

Long before we moved here, we knew that movies are made in Toronto as a stand-in for New York or other US cities. I know that Trontonians like to play "spot Toronto," similar to how I enjoy trying to identify the exact locations of New York movie scenes. The difference, of course, is that the New York locating spots are supposed to be in New York.

Well, last night, for the first time, I recognized Canada in a movie that wasn't supposed to be there. I was all kinds of proud of myself.

We watched "The Ballad of Jack and Rose," which is supposed to take place on an island off the east coast of the US. I took that to mean the Outer Banks off the Carolinas, or maybe the Georgia Sea Isles, some barrier island like that.

Towards the end of the movie, the main characters are driving down a street, and for a split-second, a Canadian Tire sign is visible. We paused and reversed, just to be certain, and there it was, the unmistakable red triangle.

Sure enough, there it was in the credits: filmed entirely on location in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

I just looked up "Jack and Rose" on the Internet Movie Database, and they've got the mistake listed, too.

The movie, by the way, ranged from bad to passable. It was written and directed by Rebecca Miller, the daughter of the late great American playwright Arthur Miller, and who is married to Daniel Day-Lewis, who stars in this movie. There were some interesting moments, but I felt it tried to do too much, and ended up very muddled. Plus, I take major points off for an intrusive and unnecessary soundtrack. I also had the distinct feeling that a feel-good, Hollywood ending was tacked onto what was supposed to be a very dark conclusion. Not awful, but definitely not a must-see - although I'm glad we saw it, because of that sign.

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