The Canadian harbour village of Tickle Cove used to thrive on fishing, but has fallen on hard times. If it can attract a doctor to stay there's a good chance it can land a factory contract which would provide much-needed jobs. But finding a doctor isn't easy and when one is blackmailed into coming for a month, the town goes all out to try to entice him.

The doctor, Paul Lewis, (Taylor Kitsch) is a plastic surgeon with a drug habit and a fiancee back in the US but new mayor Murray French (Brendan Gleeson) is determined to do whatever it takes to make him love the village. Paul likes cricket and curry and the villagers concoct an elaborate scheme to make him feel at home.

This is a 2013 English-language Canadian remake of the French-Canadian Seducing Dr Lewis from a decade or so earlier and while I haven't seen the latter, film, I hope it is better than this. While there's an occasional amusing moment, the whole charade comes off as creepy rather than cute - right down to tapping the doctor's phone, leaving money lying around for him to find, and planting a frozen fish on his fishing line for him to "catch".

Despite the ever-solid Gleeson, the whole thing feels as phoney as the villagers' scheme and the ending fails to convince.

The only extra is a trailer.

RON CERABONA