A Small Fortune: Go On, Take the Money and Don’t Run and See What Happens
By Jennie Punter
Rating: B
In the taut Atlantic noir A Small Fortune, sea-moss harvester and father-to-be Kevin (Stephen Oates) is barely scraping by but can't let go of the way of life he inherited from his late father, which includes a large house and a draft horse.
At the persistent urging of his level-headed wife Sam (Liane Balaban), Kevin is considering heading West for better-paying work but delays his decision after finding loose bills in a pile of sea moss he’s raked up and a duffle-bag of cash washed up nearby.
Adapted from his award-winning short film A Blessing from the Sea, Prince Edward Island writer-director Adam Perry’s well plotted finders-keepers tale moves at a steady trot from warm-and-cozy to dark-and-desperate, as Kevin’s simple plan unravels and a menacing stranger rolls into town.
Stephen Oates and Liane Balaban ponder their sudden windfall in A Small Fortune.
If you noted my, ahem, subtle name-check of Sam Raimi’s Oscar-nominated 1998 “take the money and don’t run” rural-set crime thriller A Simple Plan, then you have a rough idea of how A Small Fortune plays out.
Bodies fall, guns are drawn, and farm implements may be used unconventionally is all I’m saying.
The tension between traditional methods and new approaches is reflected in the role of the local police. “We keep the peace, we don’t disturb it,” veteran senior cop Jim Bradley (Matt Cooke of TVs Heartland) tells the efficient but unwelcome rookie Susan Crow (Andrea Bang of Kim's Convenience) after they return from investigating an aluminum fishing boat that has been deliberately set on fire and left to burn on the beach.
In the film’s tense third act, Officer Crow, keenly aware that danger to the community is escalating, organizes locals to search for the aforementioned stranger, Troy (Joel Thomas Hynes). He has overpowered Kevin, handcuffed him inside his car, and driven to edge of the bluffs to wait out the night so he can comb the beach for the second bag of cash.
As they sit in the dark, listening to the crashing waves, both men have reached a point of desperation from which there seems no return. But, as we know, in films of this ilk, if things can get worse, they usually do.
The opening title sequence of A Small Fortune should entrance those viewers who come from away. We see dreamily assembled footage (which looks archival) of people working with large draft horses to rake the P.E.I. shoreline for Irish moss, a cash crop that contains carrageenan, a food additive used in products like ice cream.
It’s a strange but mesmerizing activity if you’ve never witnessed it, and is a unique and believable device for delivering treasure into the hands of a protagonist, such as Kevin, who makes bad decisions.
A Small Fortune, the largest budget feature even to shoot in Prince Edward Island, premiered at the FIN Atlantic International Film Festival last September, and recently won best Narrative Feature at the Cinema on The Bayou Film Festival in Louisiana. The performances, storytelling, visuals, and music (original score by Andrew Staniland) are all excellent, coming together in what is both a labour of love and an impressive calling card for writer-director Adam Perry.
A Small Fortune, written and directed by Adam Perry. Starring Stephen Oates, Liane Balaban , Andrea Bang, Joel Thomas Hynes, Matt Cooke , and Bill McFadden. Opens Friday, March 18 In Toronto and Charlottetown theatres, and in other Canadian cities and on digital in the coming weeks.