SUZE

Wednesday, April 3, 2024
Suze      Canada
Location: SilverCity
Showtimes: 6:30 & 8:30 pm

Directors: Linsey Stewart, Dane Clark
Cast: Michaela Watkins, Aaron Ashmore, Sara Waisglass, Charlie Gillespiens, Aaron As
Running time: 93 minutes
Language: English 

Awards: Calgary International Film Festival: Best Canadian Narrative Feature

“This is a breezy, enormously amiable film.”—Debanjan Dhar, High on Films

“Suze” is an enjoyable comedy-drama that deals with an unlikely inter-generational friendship. Stage and screen actress and improv comic Michaela Watkins plays an empty-nest single mother who loses one parental responsibility only to be saddled with another. It is a combination comedy of manners and a personal growth story, as touching as it is genuinely amusing.

Single mother Susan (Michaela Watkins) aka ‘Suze’, divorced from her unfaithful husband, is bracing herself to send her daughter, Brooke (Sara Waisglass), off to university. Susan is finding the idea of her only child growing up and leaving home difficult, despite her offspring’s indifference. 

One day, Suze’s brooding is interrupted by the appearance of Brooke’s former boyfriend, Gage (Charlie Gillespie), who is heartbroken over being summarily dumped by Brooke.

Gage is as hilarious as he is annoying, full of youthful energy and awkwardness, lacking any kind of filter, and given to the worst of adolescent speech mannerisms. Susan takes pity on his obvious distress and reluctantly befriends him. 

Things take a turn when Gage is injured and his macho father finds an excuse to leave Gage with Susan while he recuperates.

Much of the humour comes from the interaction between the mature, sensible Susan and young Gage, who is erratic, emotional, and full of uninformed enthusiasm. 

The two leads have wonderful chemistry, bouncing off each other in a lively and funny first act. Their relationship evolves during Gage’s extended recuperation. Susan takes a more maternal attitude toward him, trying to offer help and encouragement.

Not only does Susan manage to direct Gage away from the negative direction his life has taken, but Gage also helps Susan come to some realizations about her life, her daughter, and herself that mercifully avoids mawkish sentimentality.

In finding both the humour and the dramatic potential in personal and generational differences, “Suze” recreates the buddy movie in a new and surprisingly successful way.