Patrick Labbe Movies

A tragedy brings together two strangers in this independent drama from Canada. Nathalie Beauchamp (Isabelle Blais) and Henry Welles (Zach Braff) live just a few blocks away from one another in Montreal, but they have precious little in common. Nathalie is married to a wealthy man (Patrick Labbe), has a fine home, and is excited about the birth of her first child in a month. Henry, on the other hand, supports himself dealing drugs, rents a grubby Chinatown flat, and lives his life in constant motion. One night, Henry accidentally runs into Nathalie and speeds off before the police can catch up with him. Henry's conscience gets the better of him and he tracks down Nathalie to see if she's OK; he's crushed when he learns that she's fine, but her baby died and she'll be giving birth to a stillborn infant. Nathalie's husband reacts in a callous fashion to the news and she turns her back on him, setting out on her own. Henry befriends Nathalie and offers to take her in as she tries to start a new life; however, he doesn't have the courage to tell her it was his actions that set these events in motion. The first feature film from writer and director Deborah Chow, The High Cost of Living was an official selection at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

After their father died and their mother left them for a life in Spain with her Spanish lover, the Tanguay siblings were understandably perturbed. To protect their younger sister Isabelle (Fanny Mallette) from the truth, sisters Catherine (Marina Orsini) and Martine (Celine Bonnier) and brother Luc (Stephane Demers) told Isabelle that their mother had died. Unfortunately, twenty years later, the repercussions of this lie are all too apparent: Isabelle, now 25, has the emotional maturity of an 11-year-old, and harbors a grudge against the world and Catherine -- now a schoolteacher -- in particular. When Isabelle persuades Martine and Luc to visit her and Catherine in the Quebec village where they live, the return of the two siblings -- one an angry lesbian, the other an angst-ridden writer -- gives rise to full-fledged chaos first sparked two decades earlier. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi

Canada's favorite cinematic hockey team returns in this comedy that features some of Quebec's most popular film and television stars. The film's 1997 predecessor grossed more money than any other French-Canadian film. The sequel begins as Les Boys, a championship amateur Montreal hockey team, flies to France to participate in an international competition in the alpine village of Chamonix. This time, rather than focusing on the team's on-ice hijinks, director Louis Saia spends the first part of the story on the characters as they attempt to cope with the cultural differences between themselves and the native French while also taking time to explore the romances between team lothario Bob and a local girl, and Coach Stan who involves himself with Violette, the owner of a local bistro. The on-ice action picks up when the tournament begins, and Les Boys promptly lose to a rag-tag West African team. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Two young bohemians try to make a life together as the end of the century looms before them in this thoughtful comedy-drama. Coyote (Mitsou Gelinas) is an impetuous young woman who meets Chomi (Patrick Labbe), a moody young man studying filmmaking. Coyote and Chomi fall in love, bound by their shared fascination with the past and the city's crumbling geography as the end of the 1990s signals the dawn of a new era. Coyote and Chomi's romance is not always harmonious, and the couple find themselves frequently splitting up, only to quickly reunite. However, Coyote begins to look for more stability in their relationship when she discovers that she is pregnant. Coyote was the second feature directed by former cinematographer Richard Ciupka, though his first directorial effort, Curtains, was credited to Jonathan Stryker. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi