GreenCine New Releases Spotlight, November 25, 2003: From our neighbors to the North comes this powerful but sensitively handled drama about sexual abuse in a Newfoundland orphanage. Made for Canadian television, The Boys of St. Vincent ran into censorship difficulties at the time. As Janet Maslin wrote in The New York Times, "its broadcasting was delayed by injunctions relating to the trials of former Christian Brothers whose activities at the Mount Cashel orphanage in Newfoundland inspired some of this fictionalized story. The fact that tabloid television routinely presents material much more lascivious than Mr. Smith's serious, responsible dramatization makes the furor that much harder to understand." Henry Czerny (who deserves more recognition than he has enjoyed thus far) gave an anguished, nuanced performance as the embattled Brother Lavin, and what could have been a sensationalized, over-the-top depiction of a horrific story is instead handled with admirable restraint and intelligence. The Boys of St. Vincent is a film to stimulate discussion, rather than one to titillate.--by Craig Phillips