Sometimes a film with a lot of heart and charm can still turn out to be... not great. The cast here has a lot of charisma and the story, while very rote, is engaging. But the script often lets everyone down by being awkward and unnatural. The film, following a very formulaic rom-com model uses a lot of wornout tropes and makes a great deal of narrative assumptions to the point where it rarely feels authentic.
Where the film succeeds is in how organic and natural it weaves in its cultural references. There is an ease to this which makes it all flow nicely despite the romance storyline's clunkiness. The art direction and score truly stand out and the film never feels forced.
Some of the cast are stronger than others which sometimes takes you out of the story, but the film both benefits and suffers from having the legendary Graham Greene in an extended cameo role. His talent over-shines those weaker cast members sometimes drawing attention to it but he also pulls it all back together with his incredible on screen presence.
So while there was a great deal to like about Sweet Summer Pow Wow there were also a lot of flaws distracting us. Even having said that I would like to see where this film maker goes next.
Sweet Summer Pow Wow
Starring: Joshua Odjick, Tatyana Rose Baptiste, Graham Greene
Director: Darrell Dennis
Writers: Darrell Dennis, Katya Gardner
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