☰
Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Rare Birds

Play trailer Poster for Rare Birds R Released Mar 1, 2002 1h 44m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
54% Tomatometer 13 Reviews 69% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Dave is ready to call it quits on his marriage and his restaurant. His wife has left him and the restaurant, The Auk, has never really taken off. Desperate, Dave tries to consume the rare delights of his restaurant before they are repossessed. All seems lost until Dave's neighbor, Phonse (Andy Jones), proposes a mad scheme to save The Auk. They will announce the presence, in the vicinity of the restaurant, of an extremely rare duck, attracting bird watchers the world over.

Where to Watch

Rare Birds

Critics Reviews

View More (13)
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Whimsical and touching. Rated: 3/4 Oct 3, 2003 Full Review Allison Benedikt Chicago Tribune Rendered bland and frustrating by its endless attempts to make the odd odder. Rated: 1.5/4 Oct 2, 2003 Full Review Ty Burr Boston Globe The movie keeps coming back to the achingly unfunny Phonce and his several silly subplots. Rated: 2/4 Oct 4, 2002 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Comes up fowl. Mar 9, 2019 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 2/5 Jul 22, 2005 Full Review Chris Hewitt St. Paul Pioneer Press Even if you don't know a wren from a grackle, there are pleasures here. Rated: 3/4 May 23, 2003 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More (51)
Audience Member I'm not a fan of the rom-com genre, but the wry humor that pervades this picture just tickles my fancy. Oh, and Molly Parker. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member Cute and charming film with quirky characters and small-town magic. As usual, the introduction of drugs to the story is unnecessary and hurts the movie. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Frances H Cute, funny and warmly wacky little Canadian flick. Andy Jones is outstanding as he remarks over and over,"Plan B, Dave!" He's hilarious! And the coastal scenery is to die for! Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/05/13 Full Review Audience Member Cute little film set in a sleepy Newfoundland town that is set upon by outsiders all in searchof an elusive bird. Touching with good character interaction. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member I was very happily surprised. I adored it. Charming. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member Pointy birds, oh pointy pointy Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Rare Birds

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

View All

Sturla Gunnarsson

Director

William Hurt

Dave Purcell

Andy Jones

Phonse

Molly Parker

Alice

Vicky Hynes

Deb

Greg Malone

Buster Bartlett

More Like This

View All
Men With Brooms 55% 66% Men With Brooms Watchlist Dream With the Fishes 60% 85% Dream With the Fishes Watchlist Run Ronnie Run! 71% 72% Run Ronnie Run! Watchlist Friday After Next 25% 75% Friday After Next Watchlist Waydowntown 70% 80% Waydowntown Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More
View All

Rare Birds

View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Dave is ready to call it quits on his marriage and his restaurant. His wife has left him and the restaurant, The Auk, has never really taken off. Desperate, Dave tries to consume the rare delights of his restaurant before they are repossessed. All seems lost until Dave's neighbor, Phonse (Andy Jones), proposes a mad scheme to save The Auk. They will announce the presence, in the vicinity of the restaurant, of an extremely rare duck, attracting bird watchers the world over.
Director
Sturla Gunnarsson
Screenwriter
Edward Riche
Distributor
Studio Home Entertainment, Shadow Distribution, Lionsgate Films, Nexo, Kinowelt Home Entertainment [de]
Production Co
Pope Productions, Rare Productions Ltd. [ca], Big Pictures Entertainment
Rating
R (Language|Drug Use)
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 1, 2002, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 23, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$17.8K
Runtime
1h 44m
Sound Mix
Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
Most Popular at Home Now