The G

From the look of the posters, this ought to be a film about a Polish gangster! Instead, it's about the curmudgeonly, vodka-swilling, "Ann" (Dale Dickey). It's really only her grand-daughter "Emma" (Romane Denis) who takes any interest in her as she goes through life with her incapacitated husband "Chip". Asleep one night, their home is invaded by people armed with a court order that puts them into a legally binding guardianship arrangement. This basically says that they are incapable of managing their own affairs and have to have someone else take control. Nobody asked anyone to do this, nor did the couple know of the court proceedings supporting it. It was all down to a dodgy doctor on the payroll of "Rivera" (Bruce Ramsay) who had his eye on their condo and their savings. Now locked inside their new apartment, she is determined to get out - especially as their new hosts can prove quite violent when it comes to making sure that they have squeezed out every penny the couple have. What "Rivera" doesn't count on, though, is that "G" has a bit of an history when it comes to looking after herself. What follows next is all a bit procedural and though Dickey is clearly having some bad-ass fun, the main thrust of the story is really the outrageous scenario that it represents: that some states in the US allow people to be summarily removed from their homes, and from control of their assets, by anonymous third parties fuelled by greed and palm-greasing. It's worth a watch, but the television will do fine.

Good film. Here's what the Fantasia Film Festival says about it: After decades as a character actor in countless films and TV series (winning numerous awards in the process), Dale Dickey takes centre stage in THE G, delivering a performance fierce and flinty enough to give Eastwood or Bronson pause (and certainly more subtle than either). Like Dickey’s turn as Ann, Montreal director Karl R. Hearne’s second feature film, a favourite on the festival circuit, bristles with quiet, carefully calibrated intensity. Inspired by his own grandmother, apparently one tough cookie, as well as outrage at the frequency of elder abuse right under our noses, Hearne has crafted a gritty revenge thriller laced with shards of bitter humour and anchored by an unconventional yet entirely convincing protagonist—a different shade of noir, with a touch of grey. – Rupert Bottenberg