''Curtis's Charm'' is a 1995 Canadian

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film written and directed by

John L'Ecuyer John L'Ecuyer (born November 15, 1964) is a Canadian film and television director. Biography Born in Montreal, L'Ecuyer later moved and studied at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto, where his classmates included screenwriter Brad Abraha ...

in his directorial debut. The film won a special jury citation for Best Canadian Feature Film at the

1995 Toronto International Film Festival The 20th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 7 and September 16, 1995. '' The Confessional'' by Robert Lepage was selected as the opening film and '' Devil in a Blue Dress'' by Carl F ...

. Based on a short story by

Jim Carroll James Dennis Carroll (August 1, 1949 – September 11, 2009) was an American author, poet, and punk musician. Carroll was best known for his 1978 autobiographical work '' The Basketball Diaries'', which inspired a 1995 film of the same title ...

, the film stars

Maurice Dean Wint Maurice Dean Wint (born 1 May 1964) is a British-born Canadian actor who has starred in both films and television series. Life and career Wint was born in Leicestershire, England, and moved to Canada in 1967 with his family. He began his acting ...

as Curtis, a

paranoid Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety, suspicion, or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of con ...

drug addict who believes his mother-in-law has cast a

voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * West African Vodún, a religion practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...

spell on him, which has resulted in his being stalked by a killer

squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae (), a family that includes small or medium-sized rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrel ...

. With the help of his friend Jim (

Callum Keith Rennie Callum Keith Rennie (born 14 September 1960) is a Canadian actor, based in British Columbia. His breakthrough role was as punk rocker Billy Tallent in the music mockumentary ''Hard Core Logo'' (1996), followed by a starring role as Det. Stanle ...

), he tries to devise a

talisman A talisman is any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made. Talismans are often portable objects carried on someone in a variety of ways, but can also be installed perm ...

to protect him from the curse.

Cast

as Curtis *

as Jim * Rachael Crawford as Cookie * Barbara Barnes-Hopkins as Voodoo Ma *

Aron Tager Aron Tager (June 30, 1934 – February 28, 2019) was an American actor, poet, artist and sculptor, he is best known for voicing Cranky Kong in the animated television series, ''Donkey Kong Country'' and for portraying Dr. Vink on the children's ...

as Park Worker *

Hugh Dillon Hugh Dillon (born May 31, 1963) is a Canadian singer, actor, and television producer. The lead vocalist of the rock bands Headstones and Hugh Dillon Redemption Choir, his acting roles include Albert Manning in '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'' ...

as Spitting White Trash Thug

Production

Filming began in April 1995, and took place over five weeks. It was shot on

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

16 mm film 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical Film gauge, gauge of Photographic film, film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 mm film, 8 mm and 35mm movie film, 35 mm. It ...

Release

''Curtis's Charm'' premiered at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

on September 11, 1995, where it won a special jury citation for Best Canadian Feature Film.

Accolades

The film garnered two

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculptor ...

nominations at the

17th Genie Awards The 17th Genie Awards were held on November 27, 1996, to honour films released in late 1995 and 1996. They were the ''second'' Genie Award ceremony held in that year; the 16th Genie Awards were delayed from the fall of 1995 and took place in Ja ...

in 1996: * Best Adapted Screenplay: L'Ecuyer (nominated) * Best Original Score:

Mark Korven Mark Korven is a Canadian musician and composer for film and television. Life and career During his early career in Winnipeg, Korven performed in a variety of rock and jazz music ensembles, mostly playing the guitar and singing in local bars. I ...

(won)"1996 Genie Award winners". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'', December 1, 1996.

References

External links

* {{John L'Ecuyer 1995 films 1995 comedy-drama films 1995 directorial debut films 1995 independent films 1990s Canadian films 1990s English-language films Canadian black-and-white films Canadian comedy-drama films Canadian independent films English-language Canadian films Films about addiction Films based on American short stories Films directed by John L'Ecuyer Films scored by Mark Korven Films set in Toronto English-language comedy-drama films English-language independent films