''Mount Pleasant'' is a 2006

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

drama film, directed by Ross Weber. Set in the

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, neighbourhood of Mount Pleasant, the film centres on three families brought together by fate: Doug (

Benjamin Ratner Benjamin Immanuel (also credited as Ben Ratner or Benjamin Ratner) is a Canadian actor and filmmaker. He is most noted for his performances in the films '' Last Wedding'' and ''Looking for Leonard''. Career Immanuel has appeared in the films ''M ...

) and Sarah (

Camille Sullivan Camille Sullivan (born July 7, 1975) is a Canadian actress. She has starred in various films and television series. Among her notable television appearances are ''Rookie Blue'', ''Da Vinci's Inquest'', ''Intelligence'' and '' Shattered''. She won ...

), a young couple who have just moved into the neighbourhood but face a crisis when their young daughter Courtney (Haley Guiel) has to undergo

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

testing after accidentally pricking herself on a used needle discarded in their yard; Stephen (

Shawn Doyle Shawn Doyle (born September 19, 1968) is a Canadian actor known for his roles in ''The Expanse'', '' The Eleventh Hour'', ''Big Love'', '' 24'', ''Desperate Housewives'', and '' Star Trek: Discovery''. Early life and education Doyle was born an ...

) and Anne (

Kelly Rowan Kelly Rowan (born October 26, 1965) is a Canadian film and television actress and former model (profession), fashion model. A native of Ottawa, Rowan studied acting in London and New York City before working as a model. She was featured in the ho ...

) Burrows, a wealthy couple challenged by the rebelliousness of their teenage daughter Megan (

Genevieve Buechner Genevieve Sterling Buechner (born November 10, 1991) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her television roles such as Tamara Adama on the Syfy series '' Caprica'', Fox on The CW series ''The 100'', and Madison on the Lifetime series ''UnRE ...

); and Nadia (

Katie Boland Katie Boland (born 1987 or 1988) is a Canadian actress, writer, director, and producer. She began her career as a child actress in film and television and has since branched out into adult roles, in addition to writing, directing, and producing ...

) and Nick (

Tygh Runyan Tygh Runyan (born June 13, 1976) is an actor and musician. Career Runyan has had a long career of character and supporting roles. His most notable roles are as Dr. Robert Caine in ''Stargate Universe'' and Fabien Marchal in '' Versailles''. Hi ...

), an underage prostitute whom Stephen is hiring for sex and her drug addict boyfriend. The cast also includes

Jillian Fargey Jillian Fargey is a Canadian actress from Vancouver, British Columbia.Layne Christensen, "Fargey forsakes film for The Edible Woman". ''North Shore News'', October 5, 2001. She is most noted for her performance in the 2000 film ''Protection'', for ...

, Nancy Sivak, Jennifer Clement, Nicole LaPlaca, William MacDonald,

Mylène Dinh-Robic Mylène Dinh-Robic (born April 17, 1979) is a Canadian actress. Early life Mylène Dinh-Robic was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec. Her father is Québécois and her mother is Vietnamese. She attended Marianopolis College and holds a BA in ...

, Sophie Yendole, Cam Cronin, Megan Leitch and Peter LaCroix. The film premiered at the 2006

Vancouver International Film Festival The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October. The festival is operated by the Greater Vancouver International Film Fest ...

, before going into commercial release in early 2007.

Critical response

Jay Stone of the ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'' wrote that "Writer-director Ross Weber (

Moving Malcolm ''Moving Malcolm'' is a Canadian comedy-drama film, directed by Benjamin Ratner and released in 2003."Movie has feeling of baseball player who lost a close one". ''Vancouver Sun'', October 17, 2003. The film stars Ratner as Gene Maxwell, a man wh ...

) evokes solid performances and keeps the plot plunging forward with a street- savvy earnestness: Mount Pleasant, it is apparent, was made by someone who knows the neighbourhood. Unfortunately, it takes all the issues of the inner city (prostitutes and their clients, drug addiction, homelessness) and cloaks them in the sort of melodrama that would feel gritty on prime-time television but not so much so in the movies. The movie is also a victim of a modest budget that results in a stark and underpopulated look, and its idea of teen rebellion -- young kids smashing nice dishes! -- doesn't have the sense of danger it needs. Nothing approaching the idea of the affordable $1.5-million house." Susan Walker of the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'' wrote that "Most of the experienced talent here - Benjamin Ratner as Doug Cameron, The O.C.'s Kelly Rowan as Anne Burrows, Camille Sullivan as Sarah Cameron and Shawn Doyle as Stephen Burrows - perform what is expected of them well but are badly misdirected. Only the children - Nadia, Courtney and Megan - offer us much reason to care. The overwrought adults are barely credible, let alone worthy of our concern. But maybe that's the point. A few pieces of the jigsaw puzzle are still lying on the table after Mount Pleasant wraps up in relief for some and humiliation or certain despair for others. It's a plausible set of scenarios that only needs a couple more turns of the screw to make it a more engaging narrative."

Awards

The film received three

Vancouver Film Critics Circle The Vancouver Film Critics Circle (VFCC) was founded in 2000 by David Spaner and Ian Caddell, in order to help promote Canadian films and the British Columbia Film and Television Industry. Its membership includes print, radio, on-line, and telev ...

award nominations at the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards 2006, for Best British Columbia Film, Best Supporting Actor in a Canadian Film (Ratner) and Best Supporting Actress in a Canadian Film (Rowan). Weber won the

Leo Award The Leo Awards are the awards program for the British Columbia film and television industry. Held each May or June in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the Leo Awards were founded by the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British C ...

for Best Direction in a Feature Length Drama, and Ratner won the Leo for Best Supporting Actor in a Feature Length Drama, at the 2007

Leo Awards The Leo Awards are the awards program for the British Columbia film and television industry. Held each May or June in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the Leo Awards were founded by the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British C ...

.Yvonne Zacharias, "Best in film, TV honoured". ''

'', June 4, 2007.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0785032 2006 films Canadian drama films English-language Canadian films Films shot in Vancouver Films set in Vancouver 2000s English-language films 2000s Canadian films