Lovesick

This material might make for a sly, subversive take on the genre, but writer-director Tyson Caron positions Dash as the hero of his story, a fatal flaw.

It's a familiar and semi-depressing tale. But Caron has a host of tricks up his sleeve, starting with Tierney as Dash, a lovable loser in love who has our sympathy even as he makes one damn misstep after another.

Lovesick is an impressive first feature for Caron. It looks great and Caron works well with actors, with solid turns by locals Gibson, McMillan, Adam Brooks, and especially Tataryn, who transcends the rom-com tropes with an ineffable sadness.

If you've seen one rom-com, you've seen them all. That may not always be true, but it certainly sums up the way Lovesick unfolds.

There's a charm about this unabashedly Canuck flick, which gets a boost from Jay Baruchel as Lauren's smarmy and hilariously condescending fianc. The gorgeous shots of the Prairie capital should have Winnipeggers hankering for home, too.

Shot in an appealingly undisguised Winnipeg, the romantic comedy Lovesick is a passable debut from Winnipeg writer/director Tyson Caron, even if it's utterly undistinguished in its story and its vision.