Edwin Boyd
Bank-robbing Toronto folk hero gets the slick biopic treatment
In the wake of the Second World War, Edwin (Scott Speedman) is working as a TTC bus driver in a snow-swept Toronto, frustrated by low wages and the lack of respect he, and other certified war heroes, seem to command. After Lorne Green’s acting workshop rebuffs him, Edwin slathers on greasepaint and some eyeshadow he nips from his wife Doreen (Kelly Reilly) and sets out on his first real “acting job,” knocking over local banks with a theatrical flair that would come to define his status as popular folk hero. But his armed robberies eventually catch up with him, landing him in the Don Jail, where he hooks up with Lenny Jackson (Kevin Durand) and other misfit thugs who would become the Boyd Gang.
Edwin Boyd is impressive. Beautifully shot and wonderfully acted, the film is especially remarkable given that it’s Morlando’s first feature. As Boyd, Speedman is remarkable, putting his camera-mugging handsome man face to great use as the “dashing bandit.” Reilly, though, plays things a little over-the-top, grasping her cheeks and clasping her hand to her mouth like she’s in a Douglas Sirk picture. But what the film suffers from more severely is its seriousness. When it’s fun, Edwin Boyd is really fun. But its hang-ups on its hero’s post-war alienation and marital strife detract from the brisk capering. Whatever happened to printing the legend?