"No, no, no, yes, no." Pogey Beach introduces the non-Atlantic Canada part of the world to the art of collecting employment insurance after doing seasonal work.
The Pogey Beach community of Tracadie, Prince Edward Island gets 2 new residents: Bethany (Celia Owen), a 19-year-old woman and her father Winslow (Dennis Trainor). Winslow bought the local fish plant. They are proud to be from Toronto, which is the last thing people outside of Toronto want to hear. She is instantly identified as a CFA (come from away).
Gary Gallant (Robbie Carruthers) is the king of Pogey Beach, an actual title. Gary has his eyes on Bethany. Lyle MacDonald (Ryan Cameron) is his archrival and desires to be the king of Pogey Beach.
The return of the pogey narc brings the worlds together as those who get caught go to pogey jail aka the fish plant owned by Winslow. The characters act as if those who go to pogey jail are dead when they are just working.
The film drops a number of local references, including Alpine beer and mustard pickles. This is a guide of sorts to the pogey lifestyle.
The film has some continuity issues. The group of women who help guide Bethany in her new life disappear for about an hour in this film. They mostly reflect the men on the beach. Gary and his female cousin have an exchange (not to each other) that if they weren't cousins, they would be into the other one. There is another woman who is anxious to be attached to the man known only as Turkey Tits.
There is excitement in the king contest, like this is a big deal. The film itself loses momentum for the contest.
Jeremy Larter, who also plays the mayor of Pogey Beach, directed the film and co-wrote with Jason Larter, Robbie Moses, and Geoff Read. They know the people and the lifestyle. They are caricatures of sorts but also real people and the team overall strikes a decent balance.
Pogey Beach is an adaptation of their Web series Just Passing Through. This is one of the funniest comedies I have seen in a while. The cars Gary and Lyle drive are worth watching just for them. It's not a great film in the classic sense but it knows what it is and has so much fun along the way. The film reminds me of WolfCop in a way in that you go along for the ride and enjoy the time spent with the film.
Jeremy Larter on Q on his new film Pogey Beach (CBC Radio One)
Canadian film review: WolfCop
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The film premiered at the Atlantic Film Festival in 2018 and won the Canadian Comedy Award for Best Feature Film in 2019.
Pogey Beach is available in the United States on Amazon Prime Video.
video credit: YouTube/Jeremy Larter
photos credit: Pogey Beach film
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