Mr. Hockey
May. 5th, 2013 09:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sg_wonderlandA few thoughts about the movie; I'll put them beneath a cut for those who haven't seen the movie yet.
I don't know anything about hockey but I'm guessing they cleaned up the locker room talk for TV. I'm just sayin'.....
The skating and on-ice scenes were probably a dream come true for any Canadian born kid who dreamed of becoming a hockey star. In fact, I don't know if I've ever seen any Canadian who didn't say they dreamed of playing hockey professionally.
I have to say my favorite parts were the family scenes. The relationship between Gordie and his two oldest boys was especially well-portrayed. The boys knew their dad was a hockey legend but I don't think they actually knew what it took to get there. And the cost to stay there. They slowly began to see their father as a fallible, human being who could hurt and be hurt. Emotionally as well as physically. Such as Gordie's reaction to the quote for Sports Illustrated.
The boys' struggles with independence (their expressed frustration at having their father publicly fight their battles for them) segued nicely into their concern for their father's ability to perform on the level of punishing physicality that professional hockey demands.
I felt for the youngest son, Murray, because he probably lost the most. He asked pointedly (during the discussion of moving to Houston) if there was junior hockey in Texas. I'm guessing the answer was a resounding 'no'; one writer put it pretty well when he said Texans thought ice was something you crushed to put in your margarita. I did love the scene with the four kids at the pool where Cathy was giving her brothers grief, as sisters do and got thrown in the pool by Mark and Marty. Who in turn, threw Murray in, even as he wailed, "But I didn't say anything!"
But the places where the movie really shone was Gordie and Colleen. This was where Gordie's soft side, his vulnerability, was best displayed. Contrasting this persona with the on-ice, take-no-prisoners is a balancing act and I thought it was well done, mostly due to the acting prowess of Michael Shanks and Kathleen Robertson. Great piece of casting there.
We also got to see Colleen as the tough negotiator; witness the scene where she smilingly blindsides the team owner during Gordie's salary negotiations. Yet she is a shaken, frightened wife when she finds out Gordie's been injured in a road game.
I don't know enough about Canada to judge the accent but it sounded very lyrical, almost Irish in places. The voice didn't sound like Shanks at all. In fact, there were times you forgot it was Michael Shanks on the screen.
That might be the highest compliment I can pay; he made me forget the actor and see the character.
I don't know anything about hockey but I'm guessing they cleaned up the locker room talk for TV. I'm just sayin'.....
The skating and on-ice scenes were probably a dream come true for any Canadian born kid who dreamed of becoming a hockey star. In fact, I don't know if I've ever seen any Canadian who didn't say they dreamed of playing hockey professionally.
I have to say my favorite parts were the family scenes. The relationship between Gordie and his two oldest boys was especially well-portrayed. The boys knew their dad was a hockey legend but I don't think they actually knew what it took to get there. And the cost to stay there. They slowly began to see their father as a fallible, human being who could hurt and be hurt. Emotionally as well as physically. Such as Gordie's reaction to the quote for Sports Illustrated.
The boys' struggles with independence (their expressed frustration at having their father publicly fight their battles for them) segued nicely into their concern for their father's ability to perform on the level of punishing physicality that professional hockey demands.
I felt for the youngest son, Murray, because he probably lost the most. He asked pointedly (during the discussion of moving to Houston) if there was junior hockey in Texas. I'm guessing the answer was a resounding 'no'; one writer put it pretty well when he said Texans thought ice was something you crushed to put in your margarita. I did love the scene with the four kids at the pool where Cathy was giving her brothers grief, as sisters do and got thrown in the pool by Mark and Marty. Who in turn, threw Murray in, even as he wailed, "But I didn't say anything!"
But the places where the movie really shone was Gordie and Colleen. This was where Gordie's soft side, his vulnerability, was best displayed. Contrasting this persona with the on-ice, take-no-prisoners is a balancing act and I thought it was well done, mostly due to the acting prowess of Michael Shanks and Kathleen Robertson. Great piece of casting there.
We also got to see Colleen as the tough negotiator; witness the scene where she smilingly blindsides the team owner during Gordie's salary negotiations. Yet she is a shaken, frightened wife when she finds out Gordie's been injured in a road game.
I don't know enough about Canada to judge the accent but it sounded very lyrical, almost Irish in places. The voice didn't sound like Shanks at all. In fact, there were times you forgot it was Michael Shanks on the screen.
That might be the highest compliment I can pay; he made me forget the actor and see the character.
no subject
Date: 2013-05-05 02:48 pm (UTC)I adored this film....I'm not anyway near an ice hockey expert being from a country that rarely shows it, but since my trips to Vancouver and my visits to the Rogers Arena to see the Canucks play a few games, I can understand the love and reverence that Canadians have for this wonderfully exciting sport...
I think it hit the mark...there was high praise on Twitter from one of Gordie Howe's grandaughters and it looks like his daughter Cathy joined to post one Tweet...
https://twitter.com/CathyPurnell
It simply says...
A very special thank you to everyone at the Hallmark Channel .. Wonderful movie about my family .. Mom would have loved it !
Lovely...
no subject
Date: 2013-05-05 04:36 pm (UTC)