From American Gigolo, Hardcore to Cat People, writer and director Paul Schrader has gained a reputation as spending the extra time needed to make his films a true work of art.  He even recently received an Oscar nomination for his film First Reformed. Unfortunately, however, his latest film doesn’t quite reach his early career highs. His earlier stuff is just too good. Oh, Canada is a little too slow to be enjoyable, even though the overall story does hold your interest.

Leonard Fife (Richard Gere) moved to Canada to dodge the draft and avoid serving in Vietnam. Over time he became an award winning documentary filmmaker, whose life became a thing of myth. Now, with death close in front of him, he decides to set the record straight by giving his final testament on film to a pair of his former students. Unfortunately however his health issues have effected his memory. And the story he tells may or may not be as accurate as everyone hoped it would be.

Gere is a charismatic actor who has never able to take that extra step to Oscar worthiness. The reason why is simple, his characters just blur into one another. It’s the same for Oh, Canada. Of course it might also have something to do with being somewhat controversial due to his political motivations, but that’s another thing altogether. His performance in Oh, Canada is his best work since 2002’s Chicago however. He’s able to convince you that he’s a senile man. That his lies and bullshit have started to cloud his mind to what the truth is.

Unfortunately, Gere’s performance is really the only good thing about the movie. Uma Thurman seems extremely miscast in a role that gives her hardly any opportunity. She’s not much more than a name actor to add to the film credits. The story only holds your interest as you try to figure out if what Fife is saying is the truth, and the ending really leaves you hanging in that regard as well. Instead of poking holes into the myth of his life, it just adds new layers and more confusion.

Fans of Schrader’s work may like how he uses the film to make them look inwards at how they remember their own lives. The problem is, Fife is such a disinteresting character that the film lacks any sort of emotional pull. You don’t really care if he’s lying or not, and if anything, you will like how he’s getting a taste of his own medicine. You may even feel bad for his wife who he is determined to get to listen to every last word of his so-called confession.

Oh, Canada is the type of movie many people will give a second viewing to so they can get a better understand of what they just watched, or to fully comprehend the metaphors layered throughout. Unfortunately it’s such a slow paced, and disjointed movie that doing so would only pull you further into Fife’s dementia. There’s art, then there’s attempted art, and Oh, Canada is the latter.