An audience favourite at the recent Toronto International Film Festival, Starbuck focuses on David Wozniak (Québécois star Patrick Huard, Les trois petit cochons), a lovable, middle-aged no-account who's a disappointment to his family and his girlfriend Valerie (Julie Le Breton) - and is now being pursued by some particularly nasty loan sharks.

Things are about to get even worse. Valerie is pregnant and doesn't want David to have anything to do with the baby, and now he's received even more unsettling news: David has been a regular at the local sperm bank for more than two decades and it turns out that he's actually already a father - several hundred times over. With the help of his lawyer friend, David begins checking up on his progeny, a decision that will change his life forever. One of Canada's most successful screenwriters (his credits include La Grande Seduction/Seducing Doctor Lewis and The Rocket), Ken Scott is equally talented as a director, delivering a charming and vibrant portrait of a wastrel whose bad habits conceal a generosity which rivals and may even dwarf his other "gifts."

Edmonton International Film Festival; Toronto International Film Festival.

Starbuck is a light-hearted, guaranteed audience pleaser. Ken Scott's fantastical story is not only somewhat topical, but elements of the lead character can easily resonate with any Gen-X viewer and is a welcomed fresh approach in tone, style and storytelling for Canadian cinema. With distinctly Quebecois humour at its root, and Patrick Huard perfectly cast as the loveable lead character, Starbuck is a truly unique touching story.

- Brenda Lieberman