reviews

Opened my eyes

by Barbara M

being from montreal my husband was eager to see this film,i was mildly
interested but agreed to go.so earlier this month we were in montreal and
decided this would be the time.well i have to tell you,i walked away from
that film with a whole new perspective.my husband has tried to educate me on
how the french were treated unfairly and still today unfortunatly it seems
there is always a struggle to keep thier culture.roy dupuis was fantastic as
maurice richard,this was my first experience seeing him at work.his
performance has given me the desire and inspiration to learn more about both
him and maurice richard.i encourage everyone to go and be prepared to feel
angry a bit,cry a bit,and rejoice not too much.dont wait for the subtitled
version,its more english than french,you will know whats going on.i for one
will be looking to obtain a copy for my dvd library.thanks maurice and thank
you roy dupuis.great job charles biname.

Lucille: "You shatter records, fill arenas, but the league doesn't protect you. Why? They protect every star player but you."

This is a period biopic about Quebecois hockey great Maurice Richard, starting and ending with the 1955 riots in Montreal when Richard was suspended unfairly for a fight he didn't start.

Maurice Richard was the epitome of the quiet, modest sports hero. He worked all day as a machinist, and played hockey at night. Hard to believe, considering how professional athletes are treated today, but Richard didn't even make enough money to buy his own home. Since French Canadians were treated like second class citizens, Richard also had to endure constant insults as well as physical attacks on the ice. The fact that he spoke little English but was interviewed in English made him look stupid. He literally lived the cliche: he had to be twice as good to go half as far.

Roy Dupuis turns in an excellent performance as Richard. Roy Dupuis has always done an outstanding job conveying a great deal of emotion with very little expression, and that's Maurice Richard to a T. (He even resembles the real Maurice Richard, except in coloring; the dark contacts and short black hair made me feel a bit of a disconnect, because Roy didn't look like Roy.)

Julie le Breton is also fine as Maurice's wife, Lucille, although it's basically a one-note part. The real dramatic relationship throughout the film is Maurice's with his coach, Dick Irvin (Stephen McHattie, who is also terrific).

Although the film's climax is somewhat unclimactic, there are many moving moments. Maurice's stoicism in the face of such unfair treatment makes it all the more effective when he finally does lose control. For me, the highlights of the movie are when the owner of the Canadiens tells Maurice that he has just given him the greatest moment in hockey he'd ever seen, and Maurice literally bursts into tears and sobs uncontrollably. And Maurice's face when Dick Irvin congratulates his team on winning the Stanley Cup... in French.

Good news for English-speaking fans: the DVD extras are in French, but they have English subtitling. That never happens.

Truthfully, I'm not much for sports movies, but this was a good one. Three stars,

Billie