Windsor International Film Festival

Film Description

UN ÉTÉ SANS POINT NI COUP SÛR (A NO-HIT NO-RUN SUMMER)
Director:	Francis Leclerc
Country:	Canada
Year:	2008
Language:	French with English subtitles
Runtime:	104 minutes
Rating:	PG
Principal Cast:	Patrice Robitaille, Pier-Luc Funk, Jacinthe Laguë, Roy Dupuis
Trailer:	View the trailer for this film

SCREENING TIMES
Monday, November 10	7:00 PM	L'Essor	Tickets: $10

Akin to several other fine Quebec films in theme and spirit, A No-Hit No-Run Summer looks back lovingly and longingly on the loss of childhood innocence. It is the summer of '69 in suburban Montreal. Amid the wood panelling and sepia-toned film stock, twelve-year-old Martin (Pier-Luc Funk) yearns to become a baseball whiz, and eagerly watches every Expos game he can. Alas, when the hotshot local coach (Roy Dupuis) holds tryouts, Martin does not make the cut. His father Charles (Patrice Robitaille), however, has a plan. He starts up a separate team for all of those kids who need to find another route to the big league.

Director Francis Leclerc's heartfelt drama works so well because the filmmaker maintains control of a perfect tone. Although A No-Hit No-Run Summer waxes nostalgic, it is never maudlin, capturing the moment between childhood and adulthood with tremendous precision. Charles's lack of baseball knowledge provides some of the humour, but this is not the whole point; it is his love for his son that drives him to create the oddball league. Sports fans will appreciate the baseball, while Dupuis devotees will have yet another chance to see the actor stretch himself into a new and unexpected role as the nasty, competitive coach. Buoyed by superb art direction - '69 was a beige-soaked year, often seen through a Super 8 camera - Leclerc brings Marc Robitaille's celebrated novel to the big screen with tenderness and respect.

During the fabled summer of 1969 in Montreal, the Expos gained wide exposure and families gathered around the television to watch the lunar landing. As Jean-Marc Vallée did in C.R.A.Z.Y., Leclerc renders a deeply personal story of adolescence while simultaneously depicting Quebec's own coming of age. A No-Hit No-Run Summer takes us to a time and place where, despite the characters' inevitable flaws, the possibilities seemed endless.

film website