H2O

I have never been a fan of "made for TV movies" or "mini series", but lately I've found myself looking more Canadian shows to watch. This movie certainly was that. If you don't know much about the Canadian (or British) Parliamentary democracy then you might be a little lost.

I'm not a movie "critic" by any means, but I found this show kept my interest over two nights and four hours. Well written, acted, and never predictable.

I would recommend this movie to any Canadian interested in Canadian/American politics, and even to anyone else curious about our political system. Maybe PBS will show it some day.

As someone who is very fond of politics- especially Canadian politics- this film deeply troubles me.

It is the story of how the country can be bought and sold so easily. It is a warning. While extremely unlikely, this could happen. It uses characters very deliberately based on previous Canadian icons (Trudeau being the big one) to hit close to home. These people have already been in power and we never thought anything overly terrible of what they did while they were in power. This film- in a very Isaac Asimov way (though, obviously Asimov was brilliant and Gross, while a good writer, cannot compare) shows us how close we are to our greatest fears.

One day, the prime minister dies in a canoeing incident and after running and winning leadership of the party his father lead, his son takes power and starts pushing through some very aggressive legislations. Later, we find out that his father's death and that of the woman who was with him were suspicious in the extreme and we start to see little by little what's really going on, though the ending is a total shock. It is hard to describe without giving it away, so suffice it to say it uses past Canadian political experiences (the Free Trade agreement, the War Measures Act, Black October) to show how close we are to losing it all.

With outstanding direction (actually making Parliament Hill look sexy), great acting from Paul Gross, Guy Nadon and Martha Henry and a shocker ending, this is well worth watching. Especially for Canadian political junkies like me.

Having just watched this on tape I have to was both shocked and in awe at the magnitude of this mini-series.

We know for a fact that the American water supply is dwindling, and their first port of call for a refill will be north of the border, so why not make a movie about it ?

As political junkie, I can tell you yes a candidate can be elected in a by election, have a leadership race, win it and then become defacto PM, unlikely but possible [which is the basic premise for this whole movie].

Acting was excellent, sets were above average, some scenarios was jaw droppingly plausible, especially the playing of Quebec and First Nations off each other. The idea of solicitor general as being a national hero was a bit of a stretch. However, once the war measures act was dropped he was about the only person in the country that could have done what he did. The mis-use of absolute power under the act played equally in to the hands of both sides here, the sight of tanks on parliament hill was scary enough.

I think this is a plausible future, not much different than the millions of Austrians who were a little shocked when Germany annexed them prior to WW2.

The scenario I would like to see played out would have been what next ? The annexation of Canada by the USA would lead to what ? I envisioned WW3 with Europe and the UK coming to the aid of Canada and a conventional WW3 being fought right here in North America.

Paul Gross learned many things while playing a Mountie on US TV, I will grant him that. That is all, however, that I will grant him. This 2-part mini-series looks slick, but that is as deep as it goes. The attempts to portray a kind of unrequited affair with the female lead were pathetic. The portrayal that either the First Nations or Quebec would present a serious threat with actual violence (as seen in this film) is laughable; sorry, but Paul Gross is too much a pretty-boy to be taken seriously in this role. Bottom line: the premise is flawed (you cannot possibly be elected in a by-election, then become Prime Minister within the time-frame presented); and the enactment of such a thing as the War Meaures Act could not possibly occur within the context of this movie. Given what went on within Quebec the last time it was used (I was there), an enactment of it under the circumstances presented in this movie is an incomprehensible thing to anyone who lived there at that time. You want to create the situation for a referendum on sovereignty? That would be it, and sovereignty would win, with my vote helping! Second bottom line:way too slick overall to be taken seriously as any kind of drama/commentary on the world we live in in reality! 2 thumbs DOWN! Not even worth a re-watch.

Seeing Paul Gross,after his role in Due South,is quite a change. This film H2O is a political thriller set in the near future. Water,not oil,is the main subject of this film. Our neighbour to the south,United States,is running out of it,so,they would love to get their hands on ours. In this film,the prime minister dies in a boating accident,which turns out to be murder. Slowly,the solicitor general discovers their is a plot,to merge Canada into the United States. He tries to prevent this happening,with tragic results. I sent a couple of DVD's to a couple of friends in the US of this film. One person did not care for it,the politics was to confusing. The other person did enjoy it,the political background of the film,confusing,so he goes to the library and gets a few books about Canada and it political setup. I am now waiting for the next film,H2O: Trojan horse.