''Niagara Motel'' is a 2006 Canadian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by Gary Yates. It was adapted by George F. Walker from ''Suburban Motel'' his series of six plays. The film earned numerous nominations, including a Genie Award for Best Supporting Actress for

Caroline Dhavernas Caroline Dhavernas (; born May 15, 1978) is a Canadian actress. She is best known in the United States for her collaborations with Bryan Fuller. She played Jaye Tyler in the Fox comedy-drama series '' Wonderfalls'', and Alana Bloom in the NBC ps ...

Plot

''Niagara Motel'' features its namesake and the ongoings amongst the inhabitants of the motel and linked Riverside Grill coffee shop located in

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Fall ...

. The characters include the owner and his daughter (Andrei and Fitch), their newly pregnant waitress ( Dhavernas) being recruited to star in low budget porn videos, a young couple ( Friel and Holden-Reid) with a criminal past struggling to recover their child from social services, and a middle class husband and wife ( Keleghan and Crewson) in a marriage that is disintegrating in near-record time - all led by a drunken motel

caretaker Caretaker may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Caretaker'' (film), a 1963 adaptation of the play ''The Caretaker'' * '' The Caretakers'', a 1963 American film set in a mental hospital * Caretaker, a character in the 1974 film '' ...

( Ferguson).

Cast

* Craig Ferguson as Phillie, The Motel Caretaker * Peter Keleghan as Henry * Damir Andrei as Boris, The Motel Owner *

Wendy Crewson Wendy Jane Crewson (born May 9, 1956) is a Canadian actress and producer. She began her career appearing on Canadian television, before her breakthrough role in 1991 dramatic film ''The Doctor (1991 film), The Doctor''. Crewson has appeared in ma ...

as Lily *

Anna Friel Anna Louise Friel (born 12 July 1976) is an English actress. Born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, she has been acting professionally since age 13. Friel achieved fame with her portrayal of Beth Jordache on the British soap opera '' Brookside'' ...

as Denise * Kristen Holden-Ried as R.J. *

Kevin Pollak Kevin Elliot Pollak (born October 30, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, impressionist and podcast host. He has appeared in over 80 films; his roles include Sam Weinberg in Rob Reiner's legal film ''A Few Good Men'', Jacob Goldman in '' Grump ...

as Michael *

as Loretta *

Catherine Fitch Catherine Fitch is a Canadian actress.Christopher Harris, "Catherine Fitch, hailed by critics for her performance in South of Wawa, says she used to be 'a bit like' the character she portrayed: 'I could look inside and see a real person there'". '' ...

as Sophie * Tom Barnett as Dave *

Pierre Collin Pierre Collin (July 18, 1938 – July 27, 2023) was a Canadian actor and stage director."Pierre C ...

as Claude

Locations

While some scenes were filmed in

Niagara Falls, Ontario Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is on the western bank of the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario, with a population of 88,071 at the 2016 census. It is part of the St. Catharines - Niagara Census M ...

, most of the film was filmed in and around

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

. The motel scenes were filmed in Steinbach. Additional scenes were filmed in Lockport and Selkirk, where the real Riverside Grill stood until 2012.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of 36% based on 14 reviews, with an average rating of 5.00/10..

References

External links

* , official website * * * * 2006 films 2006 drama films English-language Canadian films Films based on Canadian plays Films shot in Winnipeg Films directed by Gary Yates Canadian drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s Canadian films {{2000s-Canada-film-stub