Seducing Dr. Lewis
Seducing Dr. Lewismakes a pleasant addition to the quirky subgenre  of what might be called "village comedies"--movies in which the oddball  residents of a small village must work together to perpetrate some mild  scam or bit of mischief (examples abound, fromWaking Ned DevinetoSaving GracetoLocal Hero). The isolated Canadian community  of St.-Marie-La-Mauderne desperately needs a new industry, but the factory  they're trying to win requires a resident doctor. When a young doctor from  Montreal (David Boutin) gets blackmailed into spending a month in the  village, the prickly inhabitants go overboard to woo him--they learn to  cook Beef Stroganoff, form a cricket team, and tap his phone. It's all a  bit preposterous, but that's part of the charm; this kind of movie thrives  on being just a tiny bit over the top. The daffy doings keep one foot on  the ground thanks to a combination of skilled character actors (like  Raymond Bouchard, who plays the town's struggling mayor) and mysterious  girls (like Lucie Laurier, the beautiful postmistress). Fans ofThe  Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountainwill find much  to enjoy here.--Bret Fetzer