Soul’s Road: Canadian Country Star Dallas Smith as a Hometown Hero Seeking Redemption

By Liam Lacey

Rating: B-

A homegrown movie about a fallen hometown hero, Soul’s Road stars Canadian country-rock music star Dallas Smith as a burnt-out celebrity musician returning to his roots.

The return of the chastened celebrity is a familiar trope, both in dramatic plots (Garden State) and comedy (Danny McBride’s Eastbound and Down TV series), and has even been used in a specifically country music context before (the 2018 romance drama Forever My Girl). We expect some shame, redemption, a return to authenticity and career recovery, all of which we get in Soul’s Road.

A brief opening flashback scene sees rock star Ronan Garrett (Smith in a shag wig and mascara) puffing a joint and snorting coke backstage before returning to the stage for an encore before a chanting crowd.

Next, we see Ronan on the tour bus, guzzling vodka and annoying his bandmates, before demanding the driver pull over so he can puke on the roadside. A brief collage of podcast clips, accompanied by a photo collage, announce his career downfall.

Finally, in the present day, we see Ronan on a Greyhound bus back to his unnamed hometown, sporting a sensible haircut, nine years after he left on bad terms. He makes the rounds of his old haunts and bandmates on an apology tour for dumping them, along with his girlfriend Lindsay, when he signed a solo record deal and ran out of town.

First, Ronan visits his former bass player Kevin (Josh Collins), now a surly club owner, who instead of saying hello punches him in the head. He gets a better reception from former drummer Marty (Laurent Pitre) who hires him as a guitar tech at his music store.

A third bandmate, Myles (Orin McCusker) is now a high school music teacher, and a fourth, Gordie (Allan Hawco) is in jail for drug dealing. Gordie convinces him that, at least compared to a prisoner, Ronan still has options, which leads him to re-start the old band, with a couple of younger substitutions.

Shot mostly in undistinguished interiors, and some unnecessary flashbacks to the cast’s youth, Soul’s Road suffers most from inconsistent acting, with Smith’s taciturn character spending most of his time looking glumly perturbed.

Camilla Stopps does what she can as ex-girlfriend Lindsay in an awkwardly written role requiring her to display feisty wounded pride mixed with affection, nine long years after being inexplicably dumped. (Her character’s penchant for knitting hats and sweaters ties her to the mythical Odysseus’ loyal spouse, Penelope). Among the rest of the cast, Charlie Gillespie as Lindsay’s younger brother Chris provides some welcome puppyish energy.

Smith’s musical performances in the film, which are big on power chords, anthemic hooks, and gravel-voiced melancholy, help fill some the film’s emotional weak spots. What primarily distinguishes this lowkey, unsurprising drama is a well-stocked soundtrack, courtesy of music supervisor Natasha Duprey, amounting to a survey of Canadian alt-country songs over the past three-and-a-half decades.

That includes music not only by Smith but also Blue Rodeo, The Dead South, Mike Plume, and Northern Beauties, along with crossover songs like the earworm title tune “Soul’s Road,” from a 1993 Lawrence Gowan album.

Soul’s Road. Directed by Joel Stewart. Written by John K. MacDonald. Starring Dallas Smith, Camille Stopps, Celeste Desjardins, Allan Hawco, Charlie Gillespie, Josh Collins, and Geena Meszaros. In theatres February 6.