''Year of the Carnivore'' is a 2009 Canadian

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film about a grocery

store detective A store detective (also known as Asset Protection Investigator, undercover shopper, Loss Prevention Detective, and Asset Protection Specialist) is a member of loss prevention whose main role is to prevent and detect theft (commonly known as shoplif ...

with a crush on a man who rejects her because she has too little sexual experience. It stars

Cristin Milioti Cristin Milioti (born August 16, 1985) is an American actress. She is known for playing Tracy McConnell in the CBS sitcom '' How I Met Your Mother'' from 2013 to 2014, and for her work in theater productions such as ''That Face'', ''Stunning'' ...

Mark Rendall Mark Rendall (born October 21, 1988) is a Canadian film, television and voice actor whose roles include the lead in the 2004 film, ''Childstar'' and Mick in season 1 of the Canadian television drama series ''ReGenesis''. He played Bastian Bux i ...

Will Sasso Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and wil ...

, Ali Liebert, and Luke Camilleri. ''Year of the Carnivore'' is

Sook-Yin Lee Sook-Yin Lee is a Canadian broadcaster, musician, film director, and actress. She is a former MuchMusic VJ and a former radio host on CBC Radio. She has appeared in films, notably in the John Cameron Mitchell movie '' Shortbus''. Early and p ...

's feature directorial debut and it premiered at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

as a Canada First selection.

Plot

Sammy Smalls, a 21-year-old tomboy, works as a grocery store detective at Big Apple Food Town. She tracks down shoplifters and transfers them to her boss Dirk, who beats up the shoplifters as punishment. Sammy dislikes her job, but she can't quit, as she would have to move back in with her overbearing parents. Sammy meets and becomes infatuated with Eugene Zaslavsky, an equally quirky musician who performs outside her grocery store. The two develop a friendship that culminates into a disastrous one-night stand. Eugene, unimpressed by Sammy's immaturity and sexual inexperience, suggests they maintain an

open relationship An open relationship is an intimate relationship that is sexually non-monogamous. The term is distinct from polyamory, in that it generally indicates a relationship where there is a primary emotional and intimate relationship between two partner ...

. Sammy concocts a plan to gain sexual experience to impress Eugene, which leads her into many sexual misadventures.

Cast

as Sammy Smalls *

as Eugene *

as Dirk * Ali Liebert as Sylvia *

Sheila McCarthy Sheila McCarthy (born January 1, 1956) is a Canadian actress and singer. She has worked in film, television, and on stage. McCarthy is one of Canada's most honoured actors, having won two Genie Awards (film), two Gemini Awards (television), an A ...

as Mrs. Smalls *

Kevin McDonald Kevin Hamilton McDonald (born May 16, 1961) is a Canadian actor, voice actor and comedian. He is a member of the comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall, who have appeared together in a number of stage, television and film productions, most notably th ...

as Mr. Smalls *

Patrick Gilmore Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore (December 25, 1829 – September 24, 1892) was an Irish-born American composer and bandmaster who lived and worked in the United States after 1848. While serving in the Union Army during the U.S. Civil War, Gilmor ...

as Todd * Luke Camilleri as Jie

Reception

Upon its release in Canada, ''Year of the Carnivore'' received polarized reviews. In his review for ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', Rick Groen wrote that " ear of the Carnivore isas sketchy as a failed sitcom, yet with a plot that boasts more wayward tangents than a geometry text." Peter Howell of ''

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 pa ...

'' praised Milioti in his review: "Milioti is great as Sammy, a real find who brings humour and empathy to a character that might normally summon thoughts of a restraining order." Jam! Movies' Jim Slotek rated ''Year of the Carnivore'' three out of five stars and wrote that "there's a sweetness to The Year of the Carnivore that survives its flaws. It is not successful as a comedy in the sense of there being a lot of laughs. But it is an interesting and different character portrait."

References

External links

* * *
''Year of the Carnivore''
at '' Exclaim!'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Year Of The Carnivore 2009 films English-language Canadian films 2009 romantic comedy films Canadian romantic comedy films Films directed by Sook-Yin Lee 2000s English-language films Canadian sex comedy films 2000s Canadian films