Have you ever wanted money to come magically out of nowhere? It’s happened to me a couple of times, but I could sure let it happen to me again any time now, maybe I ought to try my luck at playing Blackjack online for fun. Adam Perry directed a movie that talked about a similar scenario and what happens when you somehow get involved in a criminal’s business.
It’s a quiet day on the sandy shores of Skinners Pond where a man named Kevin Doucette (Stephen Oates) and his horse are patrolling together looking for moss and anything along the shoreline. After a busy day of finding little to nothing he comes back to his countryside home on a farm. Kevin loves living out there, but his wife Sam (Liane Balaban) wants to make plans for other things, like having a kid or possibly going out to find work elsewhere on the other side of the country. As Kevin tries to work hard in getting moss for his only client Omer (William McFadden), he doesn’t get as much pay as he expects. It seems like life is a struggle out there for anyone who’s still living in that area. But right when Kevin considers going out west like everyone else he’s known, he comes across something interesting while scavenging the shore with his horse, and I”m not talking about broken Garfield phones from the 80s, I’m talking about money. Actual, Real, Live, Money. The Canadian Currency even. Kevin collects his newfound cash from piles of seaweed and moss he scooped out of the water and takes it home with him where he launders- er, washes it and sorts it out. Kevin uses his newfound cash to buy a real dinner for Sam, donate a fortune to his local church, and makes plans to keep his future family financially afloat. One day while out scoping out more dough, he comes across an old boat with a $10 bill in it. Grabbing a tank of gasoline, he decides to set it on fire and hope nobody comes across it. Meanwhile, Constable Crowe (Andrea Bang), a new member in the local town’s police force tries to do her best in working at law enforcement but her boss and the chief, Jim Bradley (Matt Cooke) is not happy with her performance feeling that she’s working too hard and that she won’t be super efficient at working in the small town. As Crowe and Bradley investigate, they come across a pile of moss and find the same source of money, all while Sam overlooks with some other townsfolk. Later that night, Omer and Sam tell Kevin about the incident with the boat and Omer reveals something interesting about the moss, that Kevin somewhat already knew. The next day, Chief Bradley confronts Kevin and expects some answers. But what can Kevin say when even he doesn’t know how the money got there?
Kevin’s findings get even weirder when he comes across a drowned man washed ashore and decides to hide him somewhere in a yard of broken down cars and appliances and he starts to feel more uncomfortable about what he’s come across these past few times, and eventually it leads to tension with him and Sam who is suspicious of where he gets his cash from. Meanwhile a suspicious looking man named Norm (Stephen Lush) comes to the small town and he’s interesting in doing a little fishing so he goes to request some bait from Omer. As he visits, the man asks Omer about the boat that caught fire, if there was any money or even a dead body. It turns out Norm knows more than anybody. Plus, if Kevin is not careful, he and those whom he know could get roped into the stickiest situation ever, more sticky than the moss he has harvested.
It’s an extremely disturbing film that shows sometimes getting instant money may result in some dire consequences. The story was really well put together and given the tightly-knit connection of residents in a small town. Typical, but great mix of characters. They’re all well established, have incredible and edgy personality traits, and really get intense when things get out of hand. The scenery is well shot even if there isn’t much colour in this small region of nowhere. The ocean like shots are soothing, the grassy plains are cool and everything seems so calm and charming. But while it may not be charming, it certainly is an exciting story and a worthwhile lesson.