DVD Review
Title: Breakfast With Scot
Studio: Mongrel Media Inc.
Director: Laurie Lynd
Principal Actors: Tom Cavanagh, Ben Shenkman, Noah Bernett
Length: 95 minutes
Release Date: November 16^th, 2007
Language: English with optional French dubbing
Rating: PG 

4 Stars

Reviewed By: Alexander Hutt (Vancouver Correspondent - Canada) 

It's Friday night and you need something to watch with your kids/with your parents; Breakfast with Scot is a heartwarming family comedy that would exactly fit that bill. Tom Cavanagh is Eric McNally, a former NHL player, now a broadcaster and Ben Shenkman is Sam, his lawyer and boyfriend. When Sam's sister-in-law dies, Sam and Eric take her young son Scot under their wing until his father is available to pick him up. Scot, however, exhibits all the tell-tale signs of a "sissy", feather boa, poodle belt, cosmetics et al, and Eric admittedly is not "good with kids."  What follows is a series of mishaps in which Sam and Eric explore their sexuality through Scot's extravagancies and discover the meaning of family.

The acting in Breakfast with Scot drives the storyline, which is not complicated, but nevertheless is not an impediment to the film. Cavanagh and Shenkman use their characters as foils to Bernett's "flamer" character, becoming the "straight" gay couple of the film. They engage you with the characters without using the explicit notion of sex, a sorely overused method in films. This is thanks in part to the writing of Michael Downing (the movie is based on his novel) and the screenwriting of Sean Reycraft, but it is ultimately Shenkman and Cavanagh who sell the characters on the screen. Bernett manages his role well, portraying his character in such a way so that we feel close to Scot and experience what is going through his mind. There are a host of excellent supporting actors along the way, including Graham Greene as an hockey coach, Alexander Franks as Scot's friend Joey Morita, and Fiona Reid as the closest thing to a mother figure in the film. Making exemplary cameos are Megan Follows and Sheila McCarthy, as a lawyer and the school principal respectively.   

There are many laughs to be found in the film, and some of the best moments come from when Eric signs Scot up for a hockey team, which includes Scot fighting his own goaltender and getting a fellow player to be his enforcer.          

Where the movie has received some flack is the stereotypical nature of Scot's character, but it is not a movie primarily about the politics of homosexuality, it is merely a well-structured family comedy.  

While the film itself is thoroughly enjoyable, the DVD is largely lacking. The absence of special features feels unfulfilled, and the menus are fairly basic. As a result, the DVD format is not one that is worth searching through. Despite the DVD shortcomings, Breakfast with Scot is a good chuckle at life and the connections of family.