It's an accidental draft dodger drama between Virginia and Montreal in the late 1960s and 2023. Leo Fife (Jacob Elordi/Richard Gere) is a famous left-wing documentary filmmaker in Canada dying of cancer in 2023. Leo allows two former students, Malcolm (Michael Imperioli) and Diana (Victoria Hill), to interview him for a CBC documentary about his life. However, he insists his wife, Emma (Uma Thurman), also a former student, be present throughout the filming.
We soon learn the myth about Leo's past as an anti-Vietnam War resister and free-spirit traveler to Cuba varied from Leo's present (real?) truth. Leo is somewhat confused, but the story he tells is of a shallow, directionless life that caused much pain to others, including two former wives, Amy (Penelope Mitchell) and Alicia (Kristine Froseth), and son Cornel (Zach Shaffer). We learn Leo's flight to Canada did not match the myth.
"Oh, Canada" is a strange film in many ways, but it tells an engaging story about the myths we all allow to be made about ourselves. Paul Schrader's use of several actors in multiple roles is confusing and unnecessary, but Richard Gere does a great job struggling to tell his truth to the woman with whom he's spent 30 years. Uma Thurman is good in portraying Emma as initially resisting Leo's truthtelling but moving towards quiet acceptance.
"Oh, Canada" is not about dodging the Vietnam War; it's instead a drama about coming to terms with one's own myths.
