User Reviews

This movie has its odd moments, but it's got fun performances from Chaykin (totally in his element), Gross (somehow making "unwashed" look sexy), and Virieux (whose character provides a somewhat saner counterpoint to the other two). Only in a Canadian film could you achieve such seriousness about such silliness, or vice versa, and still manage to throw in dark humor and good-looking leads. Moments of seriousness intrude; insane mobs and philosophizing, not-quite-kosher ministers; government-vs.-the-little-people; nuclear submarines and spontaneous combustion abound. You get to enjoy many of your favorite Canadian character actors with cameo parts ("hey! I've seen that guy somewhere!"), and by the movie's end, you find yourself wanting to don plaid and go catch some fish.

Although I liked the movie, I didn't see the credits given to the original writers of this story...in its original form...the writers of "The Mouse That Roared". Why not?

I'm sure that plagiarism isn't intended in this case...only a good story, set in a Canadian context.

And the research was lame. Among the gaffs, Canadian Naval Officers don't have the "curly-q" on their sleeves, just the rings. The "curly-q" is a Brit thing...we aren't Brits. A small amount of research would replace assumption with fact.

As in most Canadian films, all of the usual suspects were cast. Except...was Leslie Nielson busy?

A Canadian government suspension of an island community's fishing rights coincides with the defection of crew members of a Russian nuclear submarine. The villagers want their fishing rights back, which Ottawa has traded away to Portugal. They declare independence from Canada and plan a nuclear attack on U.S. and Canadian targets. It's all very far fetched, but I just love it when the Canadian prime minister brown noses the U.S. vice-president. (It's not important enough for the President to be involved.)

Two things make 'Buried on Sunday' worth watching:

1) When Louis Del Grande picks his nose during a Privy Council meeting.

2) When Tommy Sexton spontaneously combusts and tries to put out the fire using Vodka.

Both of which were based on real life events, infusing this film with a dark sense of gritty realism.

There is some good acting in this movie, but not much. I wouldn't put all the blame on the actors though; they don't seem to have much to work with, as far as dialogue goes. The script is fairly weak and uneven overall - this movie is not funny and not enough of a satire to justify its implausibility, and not serious enough to make a hard social statement.

Maury Chaykin's presence is the best part of this movie (despite his working with poor dialogue). Unfortunately, although he plays a major character, that character seems to take a back seat most of the time, his actions being mostly inconsequential, despite his role as the Prime Minister's apparent right-hand man, therefore making the best part of this movie a relatively unimportant part.

This is one of those strange but wonderful little Canadian films that just blows its US compatriots out of the water. An odd combination of comedy and drama, this commentary on geopolitics and influence peddling is just simply beautiful. And that includes the very scenic Paul Gross as well as the writing, location, and acting of everyone involved. I highly recommend this film to anyone who has a sarcastic sense of humor about politics and politicians, no matter what their nationality.

I have never been a big fan of Canadian films, and this movie really has not done much to change my opinion. I only watched it because it featured Paul Gross, whom I loved from Due South. The story was neither entertaining nor humourous. It's a shame money (probably government funding no doubt) was used to produce such a piece of c**p. What an utter waste of Canadian talent!

I'm a fan of Canadian movies and I loved this one. It's another underrated gem from the good souls at Salter Street. I'm tired of Canadians whining about how they hate our movies; there are a lot of good ones, mostly those that have never been seen but still very very good. I wouldn't try to group this one in as one of the best Canadian movies you'll see or even use it as an example, but it's worth watching if you like our sense of humour. I for one can't see anything wrong with this movie. I'm sorry that it's not a 'Big Labowski' or 'Dr. Strangelove' to you (both movies I didn't really care for, and no I'm not trying to compare the three) but I guess what Frank Shuster said was right: Canadians really do need to learn how to laugh.

Basically, Canadian films (excluding Quebec, which has its own market) seem to fall into one of two categories. There are those that actually get more exposure through good word of mouth and/or critical acclaim and go on to achieve some success. Such examples include the works of Atom Egoyan or Deepa Mehta's trilogy of movies ("Fire", "Earth" and "Water").

Then there are Canadian films which are self-indulgent and try desperately to appear clever, deep, quirky, or witty. Unfortunately, "Buried On Sunday" falls into the latter category. Those who argue that people who don't enjoy this movie don't understand/appreciate so-called "Canadian humor" have completely missed the point. In fact, they arrogantly try to present themselves appear to be as if they were part of some enlightened elite. Whatever.

People who use the term "Canadian humor" like it were some sort of blanket definition seem to imply that any type of comedy produced in Canada is rigidly dictated by certain characteristics. Obviously this is not the case, as over the years we've seen Canadian shows like "Little Mosque On The Prairie", "Corner Gas", "Trailer Park Boys", and "Royal Canadian Air Farce". All represent Canadian humor, but each is quite different from one another as night and day, despite a few similar elements.

With "Buried On Sunday", I simply don't find it to be funny or entertaining, period...even though I'm Canadian myself. The characters and the plot are just inane and stupid to the point of insulting one's intelligence. I understood what the movie was trying to achieve but I still think it failed on every level. It's not because I don't "get" Canadian humor.

These so-called advocates/defenders of "Canadian comedy" really need to get over themselves and understand that everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion. For people who actually liked the film, to each their own taste.

And for those who are from Canada who don't like the film, that doesn't make them less Canadian, sophisticated or intellectual.

First let me say that this is not the great Canadian movie (that would be Jesus de Montreal) but it does entertain. It was made by the same studio which makes "This Hour has 22 Min" and "Codco" (non Canadian readers will not have a clue what I'm talking about)and a similar type of humour exists here. The basic story of a small fishing village attempting to break off from Canada and become a nation is a comment on the real problem of Quebec independence. The acting is not the best (Gross and Cherney are OK) but some of the references are so canuck they jump out at you. At one point two nuclear missiles are being used to force the governments hand. One is aimed at Mt. Rushmore, because the Americans would get after the Canadian government and force a resolution. The other is aimed at what they believe is a Canadian landmark of similar importance...Canada's Wonderland (for those who don't know it's an amusment park).

Not the greatest, but worth a watch on a rainy day..

This is not an Oscar type of movie. But, it's on of the stories that makes a Canadian feel warm, fuzzy, and laughing.

This was probably one of the stupidest movies I've ever had the misfortune to see. I didn't laugh once while watching it. While I understand that the intent of this film was to be an over-the-top farce, I've seen dog food commercials that were far more entertaining and funny.

It's too bad Paul Gross even had to do this god awful piece of garbage, as it was an utter waste of his talent as an actor. At times, one feels as if he/she were watching a series of bad Saturday Night Live sketches. It would truly be a shame for the world to think that all Canadian films were this bad.

Having had the misfortune to sit through this entire film, I can honestly say it was a complete waste of time. While the premise of poking fun at Canadian/American relations seems to have a lot of promise as a satire, the movie ultimately fails with its weak plot and over-exaggerated characterizations. One almost gets the impression that the writer simply wiped his rear end on a piece of paper and called it a screenplay.

None of the characters in "Buried On A Sunday" are interesting, and I felt incredibly embarassed for all of the actors in this self-indulgent movie such as Paul Gross and Maury Chaykin. Such a waste of talent...but then again, perhaps they simply needed the income.

Thankfully, "Buried On A Sunday" isn't indicative of all films in Canada as there have been a number of good ones made since then (e.g. "The Sweet Hereafter", "Cube", "Lost & Delirious", "Mambo Italiano", "Ginger Snaps", "Spider"). If all films were like this one, then the future of the Canadian film industry would definitely be in jeopardy.