Gerry Boulet is credited as being Quebec’s first rocker. Of course he was not the only one at the time per se as the province saw that rise of Plume Latraverse, Michel Pagliaro, Robert Charlebois, etc. Gerry Boulet and his cohorts made an impact on French-Canadian culture and music. Boulet and his band Offenbach were a radio staple and strong concert presence in the 1970s and 1980s. Boulet died of cancer in 1990 at what could be considered the peak of his solo career. The film titled simple Gerry covers his life from childhood, through important events that shaped him, then through his career with Offenbach (2 different member line-ups) and his solo career. The film portrays him in a way that seems genuine, with his good moments, his bad ones, and his problems.
As an 80s kid born and partially raised in his birthplace, having gone to school with his daughters (without knowing them really well), and having had his music around forever, this movie was a bit of a challenge for this reviewer as Gerry Boulet has been part of the culture and the city for as long as memory serves, even now in a way. Writer by Natalie Petrowski and directed by Alain Desrochers, the film is one of those biographies that does not feel like it’s glamorizing its subject but showing them for who they are (or were in this case), defaults and all. Here they take a well-known figure to most French-Canadian rock fans and they show his life, his cheating, drug use, alcohol abuse, the fact that he was an absentee father at times, as well as his music-making process, his love for his career, his passion.
They achieve an interesting balance between the persona and the person, what people saw on television and in the newspaper and the reality of his life. They emphasize on what made him who he was and not on the flashy things like his drug use or his cheating. Of course some things may have been guessed at or slightly changed, but the fact that it does not aim at making a god of the man and seems to genuinely want to tell his story as honestly as possible without being boring allows the viewer to give it credit as a potential source of truth or something close to the truth.
The casting for this film needed to be correct, as a lot of the story’s players are people the viewing public should have an attachment to, at least those from generations that were really into them. In the lead of Gerry Boulet, Mario Saint-Amand looks almost just like him, long haired and a bit haggard at times. Saint-Amand’s performance anchors the film and he shows his usual talent by giving Gerry life on the screen and mimicking his ways of standing, talking, singing, and performing. His presence on screen rings true with possibly only the scenes where he’s singing and not backed by the original Gerry’s voice being a bit off feeling, Gerry’s voice being almost ubiquitous to Quebec ears for so long. His acting also shows an evolution in the character as his life becomes more and more about the music and his career until he gets sick.
The supporting cast is made of some familiar faces and some less. Surprising with his acting is rock singer Jonas Tomalty (front man for Jonas and the Massive Attraction) who can act decently well and turns in a good performance as one of the few Ontario musicians working with Gerry, John McGale. Most of the cast is fairly to very on point, with one exception to this reviewer and it’s not that the actress is not talent or acting incorrectly but just that she looks a bit wrong for the part and that is Maxim Morin as Marjo. Marjo is one of those female rockers that most people who have seen her would recognize her anywhere. She is portrayed here through her career with Corbeau, a band some members of Offenbach defected to and later in the movie as a solo artist who records with Gerry. Something about her presence and performance is off and becomes off-putting for fans of the lady.
Worth nothing here is the art direction by Dominique Desrochers that pays attention to details in its reconstructions of the 60s, 70s, 80s in Quebec in a way that just works for the film. The decors, costumes, instruments, and the cars are just perfect. From a quick search online, it looks like only one logo was off in one scene. There may be more, but for someone who grew up in the 80s, in the city feature for a big part of the film, it looks right, it feels right. The way they used real locations and reproduced others such as the Forum of Montreal which is now a giant 22-screen movie theater with entertainment is great and helps the film’s sense of reality.
Gerry is a biography worth checking out fan or not of the man as it’s good movie with emotions and Quebec’s own shade of rock and roll permeating the story by way of Gerry Boulet and Offenbach. The acting is top notch from the lead and on point by most of the cast with an attention to details in the settings, locations, costumes, etc that is often times a bit neglected. Also, it’s a lower budget film, at $6 million Canadian, in comparison with films about big American rock stars. Gerry Boulet’s life story may attract mostly people who knew his music, but it’s a good watch even for those who do not.
As a lot of 70s and 80s Quebec artists, videos for his songs are harder to find online as his record company has not uploaded them to YouTube or anywhere else it seems, so fans have taken their old beat up VHS tapes and uploaded them themselves. Offenbach does however have an official YouTube page. Here are a couple of videos to familiarize yourself with Boulet and his music.