wes-connors Older but totally buff Bruce Greenwood (as Tom Avery) has been married three times and considers himself unlucky in love. He discusses romance with listeners in his job as a late-night radio talk show host. Often seated below his billboard image on the subway, Mr. Greenwood attracts some weird one-night stands, especially women with foot fetishes. Assured by one of his adopted mothers there is "a lid for every pot," Greenwood finds his lid in beautiful Emilia Fox (as Fay). She works on mermaid exhibits for a museum. When problems surface in Ms. Fox' parents' marriage, we are left to wonder if the institution will survive. Enjoyed Greenwood and Fox as actors, but never cared whether or not their characters were able to maneuver modern marriage intrusions. The plight of parents Edward Fox (as Richard) and Martha Henry (as Audrey) was more interesting.***** The Republic of Love (9/11/03) Deepa Mehta ~ Bruce Greenwood, Emilia Fox, Edward Fox, Martha Henry

robins88 This is such a beautiful film about love in all its complications. Wasn't sure where it was heading at times, but glad I stayed the course. An interesting cast - especially Greenwood and Emilia Fox - with a good mix of known and unknown actors. Each character is richly different and strangely, weirdly odd. The complexity of relationships - ahh. The diverse relationships portrayed made me want to know more back story, however, what is presented is just enough. Everyone seemed just like folks you might know. I also like the cinematography - the camera felt right for whatever was present at the moment. And the music is sublime. This film makes me appreciate Canadian movies - can see why it was a Toronto Film Festival selection.

MartinHafer I sought out this movie because I have loved the previous films I seen that were also directed by Indian-Canadian, Deepha Mehta. I was actually surprised when I looked at the DVD case, as I was expecting an Indian cast or at least a theme that dealt with Indians or Indians living in Canada. However, I found that this was a nice "small" love story and the only nod to India was some of the music (with a light Indian rhythm) as well as a very brief glimpse of BOLLYWOOD/Hollywood on the screen as Fay and her boyfriend are watching television. This isn't to say that some of the Mehta touches are not there, as I noticed two in particular. First, although this was a love story with some serious moments, a few odd and funny tiny little touches were there (such as Fay's dad and his pet duck as well as a wheel falling out of the sky and nearly killing this same man--odd touches indeed). Second, Mehta's stories about love tend to be very modern and show the contrast between tradition and the new morality of today--the main theme of this film.About the only thing I didn't like about the film is the morality of love and relationships, as most in the film behave quite amorally and irresponsibly. There was one odd example of this new morality involving a relationships class held in a church where they encouraged sex and masturbation as well as asked the group members about their wildest one night stands! Still, it's a nice, quirky little love tale that is a great "chick flick" or date movie.

willthind The Republic of Love sadly confirms my suspicion that Deepa Mehta is a director of limited talent and vision. The film is dramatically and emotionally inert - a far, far cry from Carol Shields source novel. Certain sequences - for example, the lamentable nonsense about mermaids in the museum - are little short of embarrassing, with Mehta seemingly unable to construct convincing relationships. Certain sets look as if they were built on very limited budgets. The whole thing isn't helped by weak decisions in the casting department. Emilia Fox is cold and fails to convince us of any of her character's passion. Bruce Greenwood struggles to convince us of his heterosexuality. And Edward Fox is - well - just plain terrible. His accent sounds as it was trained at the Dick Van Dyke School of Elocution. A major misfire. Avoid.