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Rare Birds Photos

Phonse (ANDREW JONES), Alice (MOLLY PARKER) and Dave (WILLIAM HURT).

Alice (MOLLY PARKER) and Dave (William Hurt).

View All Photos (20)

Movie Info

Dave (William Hurt) is ready to call it quits on his marriage and his restaurant. His wife has left him and the restaurant, The Auk, has never really taken off. Desperate, Dave tries to consume the rare delights of his restaurant before they are repossessed. All seems lost until Dave's neighbor, Phonse (Andy Jones), proposes a mad scheme to save The Auk. They will announce the presence, in the vicinity of the restaurant, of an extremely rare duck, attracting bird watchers the world over.

Rating:

R (Language|Drug Use)
Genre:

comedy
Original Language:

English
Director:

Sturla Gunnarsson
Writer:

Edward Riche
Release Date (Theaters):

Mar 1, 2002 wide
Release Date (Streaming):

Nov 23, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA):

$17.8K
Runtime:

1h 44m
Production Co:

Pope Productions, Big Pictures Entertainment, Rare Productions Ltd. [ca]
Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio:

Flat (1.85:1)

Cast & Crew

William Hurt
Dave Purcell

Andy Jones
Phonse

Molly Parker
Alice

Vicky Hynes
Deb

Greg Malone
Buster Bartlett

Maggie Meyer
Brit Woman

Show all Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews for Rare Birds

All Critics (13) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (7) | Rotten (6)

Whimsical and touching.

October 3, 2003 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Rendered bland and frustrating by its endless attempts to make the odd odder.

October 2, 2003 | Rating: 1.5/4 | Full Review…

Allison Benedikt
Chicago Tribune
The movie keeps coming back to the achingly unfunny Phonce and his several silly subplots.

October 4, 2002 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…

Ty Burr
Boston Globe
With Rare Birds, as with The Shipping News before it, an attempt is made to transplant a Hollywood star into Newfoundland's wild soil -- and The Rock once again resists the intrusion.

March 1, 2002 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…

Peter Howell
Toronto Star
Comes up fowl.

March 9, 2019 | Full Review…

Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
Quote not available.

July 22, 2005 | Rating: 2/5

Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Even if you don't know a wren from a grackle, there are pleasures here.

May 23, 2003 | Rating: 3/4

Chris Hewitt
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Has all the right elements but completely fails to gel together.

October 20, 2002 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

Charles Martin
Boxoffice Magazine
Rare Birds has more than enough charm to make it memorable.

June 11, 2002 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…

David Grove
Film Threat
Really quite funny.

May 30, 2002 | Rating: 3.5/5

Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com
Its almost too-spectacular coastal setting distracts slightly from an eccentric and good-naturedly aimless story.

March 11, 2002 | Rating: 74/100

Brian Webster
Apollo Guide
Rare Birds ain't perfect ... but the wild performance by Jones constantly turns the movie upon its head.

March 3, 2002 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Jason Anderson
eye WEEKLY

View All Critic Reviews (13)

Audience Reviews for Rare Birds

Jul 05, 2012

Cute little film set in a sleepy Newfoundland town that is set upon by outsiders all in searchof an elusive bird. Touching with good character interaction.

John B Super Reviewer
Mar 19, 2010

Shot in beautiful Newfoundland by Icelandic director Sturla Gunnarsson. Based on the novel by Canadian Edward Riche, who also wrote the screenplay. Stars Molly Parker, a wonderful Canadian actress.

Laura C Super Reviewer