As an American living in the South, we generally don't know a ton about the history of hockey. Sure, we recently obtained hockey teams and I attend rather regularly, but I am a newcomer to the sport compared to Canadians and those living in old established hockey towns like New York, Boston and Chicago. So please understand that my review is mostly targeted for us 'outsiders'.
I wanted to see this film because I love the sport and know only vaguely about Maurice Richard's career and nothing about him as a person. Interestingly, after seeing this film, I still know very, very little about him as a person and many of the important issues brought up in the film seem to have little context. So, for a person NOT weaned on hockey, you, too might feel a bit confused and lost about this film.
The film is a bit episodic like most biopics. You see a tiny bit about Richard when he was a teen and then it jumps ahead to when he began his NHL career. Then, it bounces around a bit--spending a lot of time on his early career--then a jump to mid-career and then really nothing about the latter part of his career and life after hockey other than a few clips tossed in at the end. About his life, you see he has a couple kids, it appears that he loves his wife (though this is also oddly vague) and they show a lot of clips of his brother-in-law--though I failed to see the connection. Did he like or hate his brother-in-law? I dunno. But it was very, very strange that they never mentioned that he had two brothers who also played for the Canadians hockey club. Although one only briefly played with them, the other played for years for the club and was a HUGE star (nicknamed 'The Pocket Rocket')--but this was oddly omitted. Why focus so much on the brother-in-law who didn't even play and who seemed unimportant to Richard in the film?!
In biographies, there is almost always some sort of controversy or obstacle to overcome. This is an almost unvarying formula. In the case of "The Rocket", the obstacles were players who deliberately targeted him on the ice as well as discrimination against the French-Canadian players. The latter, in particular, is an important topic--and one that most Americans don't even realize is or was an issue. I was struck by the fact that the coach on the Canadians didn't even speak French--even though the team played in French-Canada! This is interesting and I wanted to hear more about this--because if it's true*, it needs to be addressed. But, the film never said much apart that RICHARD thought it was a problem! So, was he a whiner or was there serious discrimination against French-speaking players then or now? The film didn't really answer that and I found this frustrating.
Now it sounds like I hated this film--I didn't. The acting and shots of players playing hockey were very nice. And, I loved the soundtrack. But because I liked what I was seeing, it made what I did NOT see even more apparent. I think perhaps the film would have been better as a mini-series or at least by offering a bit more clarity to us non-Canadian viewers.
*When I did an internet search about it, I found LOTS of websites that felt that CURRENTLY there is a lot of discrimination against French-speaking hockey players. They indicate that non-superstars have a hard time making it into Junior Hockey or the NHL. If this is the case, then it really needs to be addressed and a film like "The Rocket" could have paved the way for this. The statistics I found were NOT very encouraging for young French-Canadian players.
I wanted to see this film because I love the sport and know only vaguely about Maurice Richard's career and nothing about him as a person. Interestingly, after seeing this film, I still know very, very little about him as a person and many of the important issues brought up in the film seem to have little context. So, for a person NOT weaned on hockey, you, too might feel a bit confused and lost about this film.
The film is a bit episodic like most biopics. You see a tiny bit about Richard when he was a teen and then it jumps ahead to when he began his NHL career. Then, it bounces around a bit--spending a lot of time on his early career--then a jump to mid-career and then really nothing about the latter part of his career and life after hockey other than a few clips tossed in at the end. About his life, you see he has a couple kids, it appears that he loves his wife (though this is also oddly vague) and they show a lot of clips of his brother-in-law--though I failed to see the connection. Did he like or hate his brother-in-law? I dunno. But it was very, very strange that they never mentioned that he had two brothers who also played for the Canadians hockey club. Although one only briefly played with them, the other played for years for the club and was a HUGE star (nicknamed 'The Pocket Rocket')--but this was oddly omitted. Why focus so much on the brother-in-law who didn't even play and who seemed unimportant to Richard in the film?!
In biographies, there is almost always some sort of controversy or obstacle to overcome. This is an almost unvarying formula. In the case of "The Rocket", the obstacles were players who deliberately targeted him on the ice as well as discrimination against the French-Canadian players. The latter, in particular, is an important topic--and one that most Americans don't even realize is or was an issue. I was struck by the fact that the coach on the Canadians didn't even speak French--even though the team played in French-Canada! This is interesting and I wanted to hear more about this--because if it's true*, it needs to be addressed. But, the film never said much apart that RICHARD thought it was a problem! So, was he a whiner or was there serious discrimination against French-speaking players then or now? The film didn't really answer that and I found this frustrating.
Now it sounds like I hated this film--I didn't. The acting and shots of players playing hockey were very nice. And, I loved the soundtrack. But because I liked what I was seeing, it made what I did NOT see even more apparent. I think perhaps the film would have been better as a mini-series or at least by offering a bit more clarity to us non-Canadian viewers.
*When I did an internet search about it, I found LOTS of websites that felt that CURRENTLY there is a lot of discrimination against French-speaking hockey players. They indicate that non-superstars have a hard time making it into Junior Hockey or the NHL. If this is the case, then it really needs to be addressed and a film like "The Rocket" could have paved the way for this. The statistics I found were NOT very encouraging for young French-Canadian players.