Dir. Bruce Sweeney | Canada | 2009 | 83 MIN
Starring Gabrielle Rose, Cam Cronin, Laara Sadiq

After eight years without a date, golf course owner Kevin just wants to meet the right woman. He drops “subtle” hints, like leaving neatly wrapped luxury watches on their desks after knowing them only briefly, but that just seems to scare them away. Because he's already been divorced once, Kevin's overly concerned mother is worried that her chances of being a grandmother may be dwindling. Then along comes Hayaam. Beautiful, funny and smart, she seems perfect. But Kevin must overcome his other major problem: a certain over-eagerness in the bedroom.

A dynamic cast brings writer and director Bruce Sweeney's characters to full realization. Cronin gives a pained and comic performance worthy of Woody Allen, and Sadiq provides the perfect level of sultry angst as Hayaam. Rose delivers her usual zeal to the role of the overbearing mother, bringing both humour and sadness to her blustery character. Funny and sexy, Excited finds Sweeney returning to similar terrain covered in his excellent debut feature Live Bait, in which he also used sex and its dysfunctions to explore the nature of social and familial relationships. Sweeney inverts the romantic comedy, making a movie that is more about what keeps people apart than what brings them together.

- Toronto International Film Festival