Punch (2002 film)

Last updated
Punch
Directed byGuy Bennett
Written byGuy Bennett
Produced by Stephen Hegyes
Starring Michael Riley
Sonja Bennett
Meredith McGeachie
Cinematography Gregory Middleton
Edited byRichard Schwadel
Music byJames Jandrisch
Production
company
Brightlight Pictures
Distributed by ThinkFilm
Release date
  • September 10, 2002 (2002-09-10)(TIFF)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

Punch is a Canadian dark comedy film, directed by Guy Bennett and released in 2002. [1]

Contents

Plot

The film stars Michael Riley as Sam Frizzell, a widowed single father in Vancouver, British Columbia whose desire to find a new partner is complicated by his daughter Ariel's (Sonja Bennett) jealousy of any new woman in his life. However, when Ariel physically attacks Sam's newest love interest Mary (Marcia Laskowski), Mary's sister Julie (Meredith McGeachie), a lesbian professional boxer, comes to her sister's defense. [2] The film's cast also includes Vincent Gale, Kathryn Kirkpatrick, Don Ackerman and Sarah Lind.

Production

Guy Bennett excused himself from the set when they shot the more revealing scene in which his daughter Sonja Bennett is sitting naked on a bed with her legs apart in an attempt to seduce her tutor, and watched from a monitor in another room. But the idea of putting his daughter in this vulnerable position never gave him pause for a moment. "Everything is subservient to the drama," he explained. [3]

Awards

At the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards 2002, Bennett won for Best Actress in a Canadian Film and McGeachie won for Best Supporting Actress in a Canadian Film. [4] McGeachie received a Genie Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 24th Genie Awards. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Jason Leigh</span> American actress (born 1962)

Jennifer Jason Leigh is an American actress. She began her career on television during the 1970s before making her film breakthrough in the teen film Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982). She received critical praise for her performances in Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989), Miami Blues (1990), Backdraft (1991), Single White Female (1992), and The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Dorothy Parker in Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994).

<i>Flower & Garnet</i> 2002 Canadian film

Flower & Garnet is a Canadian drama film, written and directed by Keith Behrman and released in 2002.

Sonja Bennett is a Canadian actress and screenwriter. Her film debut was in the Canadian feature film Punch (2002), for which she won the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress in a Canadian Film. She has since starred in the films Donovan's Echo, Cole, Control Alt Delete, Young People Fucking, and Fido as well as the television series Godiva's and Cold Squad. In 2014, Bennett made her screenwriting debut with Preggoland in which she also starred.

The 3rd Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards, honoring the best in filmmaking in 2002, were given on 30 January 2003.

<i>Childstar</i> 2004 Canadian film

Childstar is a 2004 Canadian comedy film directed and co-written by Don McKellar, and starring McKellar, Peter Paige, Gil Bellows, Mark Rendall, Michael Murphy, with Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Alan Thicke. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and received four awards from the Vancouver Film Critics Circle, including Best Canadian Film.

The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television presents an annual award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role to the best performance by a lead actress in a Canadian film. The award was first presented in 1968 by the Canadian Film Awards, and was presented annually until 1978 with the exception of 1969, when no eligible feature films were submitted for award consideration, and 1974 due to the cancellation of the awards that year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lubna Azabal</span> Belgian actress (born 1973)

Lubna Azabal is a Belgian actress.

The Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress in a Canadian Film is an annual award given by the Vancouver Film Critics Circle. In 2000 and 2001 the award was only given to Canadian actresses, the last few years every actress in a Canadian production can win the award.

The Canadian Screen Award for Best Live Action Short Drama is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian live action short film. Formerly part of the Genie Awards, since 2012 it has been presented as part of the Canadian Screen Awards.

The 8th Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards, honoring the best in filmmaking in 2007, were given on February 11, 2008.

<i>Falling Angels</i> (film) 2003 Canadian film

Falling Angels is a 2003 independent film by Scott Smith, based on the novel of the same name by Barbara Gowdy and adapted for the screen by poet and author Esta Spalding. It is the second feature film by Scott Smith, writer, producer and director of Rollercoaster (1999). Set in the late 1960s, the film is a dark comedy focusing on the coming of age of three sisters and their struggle for independence in a dysfunctional family. It is also a story about the destructive effects of secrecy between parents and children.

<i>Café de Flore</i> (film) 2011 Canadian film

Café de Flore is a Canadian drama film, released in 2011. Directed, written, and edited by Jean-Marc Vallée, the film garnered 13 nominations for the 2012 Genie Awards. The film's title refers not to the café on Boulevard Saint-Germain in Paris, but to a Matthew Herbert song of the same name which the film uses to represent its musical current.

<i>Preggoland</i> 2014 film

Preggoland is a 2014 Canadian comedy film directed by Jacob Tierney and written by Sonja Bennett. The film stars Bennett as Ruth, a 35-year-old single woman who falsely claims to be pregnant to deflect her friends' and family's mounting disapproval of her directionless, irresponsible lifestyle.

<i>Fathers & Sons</i> (2010 film) 2010 Canadian film

Fathers & Sons is a 2010 Canadian comedy-drama film, directed by Carl Bessai. An unofficial sequel to his 2008 film Mothers & Daughters, it used a similar process of improvisational character development to dramatize several stories of relationships between fathers and sons.

Meredith McGeachie is a Canadian television and film actress.

Cole is a Canadian drama film, directed by Carl Bessai and released in 2009.

Protection is a Canadian drama film, directed by Bruce Spangler and released in 2000. The film stars Jillian Fargey as Betty, a drug addict from Surrey, British Columbia, whose fitness as a mother is being investigated by child protection officer Jane following suspicions that her boyfriend Joe may have been physically and sexually abusive to her children Cindy and Jimmy.

Benjamin Immanuel is a Canadian actor, film director and screenwriter. He is most noted for his performances in the films Last Wedding and Looking for Leonard.

<i>Wet Bum</i> 2014 Canadian film

Wet Bum is a 2014 Canadian drama film, directed by Lindsay MacKay. The film stars Julia Sarah Stone as Sam, a shy and self-conscious teenage girl struggling to assert herself with those around her, including her older swimming teammates who make fun of her because she has not yet fully developed into womanhood and the residents of a nursing home where she has a part-time job as a cleaner.

Tom Scholte is a Canadian actor and academic. He is most noted for his performances in the film Last Wedding, for which he was a Genie Award nominee for Best Supporting Actor at the 22nd Genie Awards in 2002 and a Vancouver Film Critics Circle nominee for Best Actor in a Canadian Film at the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards 2001, and The Dick Knost Show, for which he received a Vancouver Film Critics Circle nomination for Best Actor in a Canadian Film at the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards 2013.

References

  1. "Punch packs humour, takes some risks". Vancouver Sun , February 7, 2003.
  2. "Blow by blow girl saga". Toronto Star , February 7, 2003.
  3. "Family dynamics". www.theglobeandmail.com. 11 February 2003. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  4. "Vancouver Film Critics Circle pick best of 2002". Nelson Daily News , January 31, 2003.
  5. "Genie comes out with more pizzazz". Victoria Times-Colonist , May 1, 2004.