Guidance (film)

Guidance is a Canadian dark comedy film, which premiered at the 2014 Toronto Film Festival on September 5, 2014 as part of the Discovery program.[1]

Guidance
Official Canadian poster
Directed byPat Mills
Produced by
  • Mike MacMillan
  • Alyson Richards
  • Ed Gernon
Written byPat Mills
Starring
Music byMenalon
CinematographyDaniel Grant
Edited byBryan Atkinson
Distributed bySearch Engine Films (Canada), Strand Releasing (U.S)
Release date
  • 5 September 2014 (2014-09-05) (TIFF)
Running time
81 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

The full-length directorial debut of Pat Mills, the film stars Mills as David Gold, a down on his luck former child star who fabricates his credentials to take a job as a high school guidance counsellor.[2] An unrecovered alcoholic and drug addict troubled by his faded success and in deep denial about both his closeted gay sexuality and his health following a skin cancer diagnosis, he becomes unexpectedly popular with the students after his habit of introducing them to his own deeply unhealthy coping mechanisms actually helps many of them solve their own problems.[2]

The film's cast also includes Kevin Hanchard, Alex Ozerov, Jen Goodhue, Maria Vacratsis, Eleanor Zichy and Allison Hossack.[3] It has been picked up by Strand Releasing for distribution in the United States.[4]

Background

Mills, a former child actor who appeared on the television series You Can't Do That on Television in the 1980s,[5] drew inspiration both from the troubled history of many child actors and from a desire to subvert the conventions of the stereotypical coming out narrative.[6] He describes David Gold as an "alter ego" who faces some of the same insecurities that Mills had dealt with in his own life, but has much more dysfunctional ways of coping with them.[6]

Release

Guidance has received positive reviews from critics upon its release. IndieWire called it "a must see and a moving laugh-out-loud romp from start to finish".[7] Variety gave the film a positive review, stating that it was a "delightful debut" and "The modest pic's laughs get bigger as it goes along, and so does its surprising warmth".[2] The Los Angeles Times called it "a creative hat-trick of wildly amusing proportions".[8] Allmovie wrote "the writer-director's premiere effort announces him as a major new onscreen talent and a fresh and welcome comedic voice."[9] It was reviewed as a New York Times Critics' Pick upon its release.[10] Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 88% based on 16 reviews.[11]

References
  1. "Search Engine takes Canadian rights to Guidance". Playback, September 8, 2014.
  2. "Toronto Film Review: ‘Guidance’". Variety, September 5, 2014.
  3. "Allison Hossack, Zahra Bentham Find Indie 'Guidance' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter, November 20, 2013.
  4. "Strand Releasing Picks Up Pat Mills' 'Guidance'". Indiewire, February 27, 2015.
  5. "Starring in own film costly for director". Brampton Guardian, September 9, 2014
  6. "High school confidential". Xtra!, September 4, 2014
  7. Grover, Erin. "A Vodka Shot Toast to the Outrageous Comedy & TIFF Selection "Guidance"". Retrieved 2015-09-29.
  8. Goldstein, Gary. "'Guidance' gets an A for its subversive silliness". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2015-09-29.
  9. "Guidance (2014) - Pat Mills | Review | AllMovie". AllMovie. Retrieved 2015-09-29.
  10. Catsoulis, Jeannette (2015-08-20). "Review: In 'Guidance,' a High School Counselor as a Rotten Role Model". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-09-29.
  11. "Guidance". Retrieved 2018-05-14.
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