\CANADIAN PRESS ARTICLE
Michelle With The Prime Minister
Tuesday, February 26, 2002
Chretien attends movie premiere
By JOHN McKAY -- Canadian Press
Men With Brooms has become a cause celebre -- touted as the Canadian film that will finally break out of the art-house circuit and become a populist hit, a full-blown multiplex success to match anything from MGM or Warners.
The campaign for the curling comedy, which opens across Canada a week Friday with gargantuan expectations, includes a national cast tour, the release of a soundtrack featuring, among other artists, the Tragically Hip, a paperback version of the script and a contest for a cross Canada trip.
The hoopla also included a gala screening Tuesday night at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Que., across the river from the Parliament Buildings, where it scored a solid review from a prominent critic.
"I hope a lot of people see the film," Prime Minister Jean Chretien said afterward. "It was a good film, very Canadian."
Paul Gross (the film's star, director, producer, writer) and other cast members were all on hand for the screening, which drew a crowd of about 300, including a generous complement of cabinet ministers, MPs and senators.
The audience rewarded Gross's co-star, veteran comic actor Leslie Nielsen, with a standing ovation -- a gesture repeated for Chretien when the prime minister entered the auditorium.
