The Art of Woo (2001)

The Art of Woo (Canada, 2001) 97 min color DIR-SCR: Helen Lee. PROD: Anita Lee. MUSIC: Ron Sexsmith, Kurt Swinghammer. DOP: Steve Cosens. CAST: Sook-Yin Lee, Adam Beach, Joel Keller, Alberta Watson, John Gilbert, Kelly Harms, Don McKellar, Siu Ta, Marc Mayer. (Alliance Atlantis – The Feature Film Project)

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When the Canadian Film Centre released the first batch of titles under their new subsidiary, The Feature Film Project (Clement Virgo’s Rude, Stephen Williams’ Soul Survivor, Holly Dale’s Blood & Donuts, and Laurie Lynd’s House), Helen Lee had her short film Prey, with Sandra Oh, produced there in the same calendar year. The Art of Woo marks her feature film debut, produced by the same banner. There are a lot of familiar names behind the camera, which take me back to my salad days in the industry.

Viewing it was like a family reunion, if a sad one. A sorry last gasp from the end of Canada’s quirky “New Wave” period, the movie looks like a bad soap opera because it was shot on early digital video, and feels like one with its often stilted performances- making one wonder if this was meant as a parody of such. (Highly strung dialogue like “Don’t go!” “It’s only Scarborough” convinces me more.) Instead, we get another depressing reminder of our cinematic promise being busted back to dinner theatre, in a clichéd attempt at screwball comedy with hackneyed, overwritten contrivances.

The title is a pun, as former MuchMusic VJ Sook-Yin Lee plays art gallery dealer Alessa Woo, first seen lip synching to “The Look of Love”, fitting for a screenplay about assuming other identities. She presents herself as the daughter of a Hong Kong ambassador, although in truth, her father (gasp!) owns a convenience store in Scarberia. The new “boy next door” in her walk-up apartment house, aboriginal painter and potential “next big thing” Ben Crowchild (Adam Beach), whose mother was a well-regarded native artist, shuns the pampered lifestyle of his rich stepfather and new wife (John Gilbert from Eclipse, and an underwritten Alberta Watson), shares a bathroom, and briefly a bed, with Alessa before she is “wooed” by bored rich art collector Patrick (Joel Keller). This Holly Golightly seeks a rich man to solve her financial woes, namely arrears with rent. The narrative addresses cultural appropriation, where Alessa pines for privilege while Ben repudiates it, and to a lesser extent, in her goofball friend who gets embarrassed about using “reserve” and “black” in general conversation.

I wish there were more moments like the opening, or the animated dream sequence where Alessa must choose from all her suitors. Instead we get liberal doses of The Coincidence Disease. Did this really need the contrivance of her two potential suitors being stepbrothers? Did Canadian cinema have a “Don McKellar clause”? Here he is again, this time as an unfortunate schmuck vying for Alessa’s affections, who nearly gets run over by a cab for his trouble. And speaking of taxis, where is Ben coming from at the start? North York? It might be worth a look for its view of the local art scene (“[Michael] Snow piece… snow job”), in which Power Plant’s Marc Mayer plays himself, and is noteworthy for its wonderful song score by Kurt Swinghammer and Genie winner Ron Sexsmith. But since the film ended, I’ve had Dusty Springfield in my head all day … not a bad thing! (Viewed from an Alliance Atlantis VHS, which I picked up at Value Village just before the pandemic.)