THE FIVE SENSES — *** 1/2 — Gabrielle Rose, Mary-Louise Parker, Nadia Litz, Molly Parker, Daniel MacIvor, Marco Leonardi, Phillippe Volter, Pascale Bussieres, Brendan Fletcher; rated R (sex, nudity, profanity, vulgarity); exclusively at the Tower Theatre.
Of the many sensations mulled over by Canadian director Jeremy Podeswa in his second feature-length film, "The Five Senses," the only one he's left out is probably the one he should probably feel most strongly — the feeling of accomplishment, of a job well-done.
It's difficult enough for an inexperienced filmmaker like Podeswa to come up with a somewhat satisfying feature this days — much less a thematically ambitious ensemble piece like this one.
In fact, the film is put together so superbly that you may have a hard time believing it's the work of a neophyte. Instead, it stacks up quite well when compared to similar films, such as Robert Altman's "Short Cuts" and P.T. Anderson's "Magnolia."
And in its own way, "The Five Senses" recalls the works of Podeswa's fellow Canadian, Atom Egoyan, minus Egoyan's trademark fractured narratives and decidedly non-linear storytelling methods.
The film's title refers to the different plots running throughout, with different characters embodying the primary senses, or in many cases, their loss of these particular sensations.
For massage therapist Ruth (Gabrielle Rose), it's touch. She's unable to connect with her self-involved teenage daughter, Rachel (Nadia Litz).
What's afflicting Ruth's neighbor Rona (Mary-Louise Parker) is a lack of taste. This would-be cakemaker crafts good-looking but awful-tasting confections, an apparent reflection of her unsuccessful love life.
Meanwhile, Rona's best friend, Robert (Daniel MacIvor), is obsessed with scents, particularly those of his former lovers, one of whom he hopes to reunite with.
As for eye doctor Richard (Phillippe Volter), he's rapidly losing his sense of hearing and is hoping to compile a "library of sounds" in his mind before that sense has eroded to nothing.
Most of these characters live in the same Toronto apartment building, and what they're really missing in their lives is love. (By the way, the "sight" component of the story involves a teenage girl and a boy she meets in a nearby park.)
In the capable hands of Podeswa, who also wrote the screenplay, these setups aren't nearly as heavy-handed as they might sound. In fact, the material is surprisingly subdued.
Stress "surprisingly," because the film deals with drastically contrasting emotions, from grief to outright joy, which could have led to histrionics — or worse.
Subtle performances by the mostly unknown cast (save Mary-Louise Parker) certainly helps. Of the bunch, the real standouts may be MacIvor, Litz and especially Volter, whose storyline is unexpectedly moving.
"The Five Senses" is rated R for scenes depicting sexual activities, male and female nudity, scattered strong profanity and some crude sexual discussions and humor. Running time: 105 minutes.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com