“There’s a certain kind of movie that I refer to as a “”Mighty Ducks”” movie, and that would be your typical underdog sports movie. There’s a variety of them, both family friendly and for the big kids, and for just about every sport. I’d start listing examples, but we’d be here all night cause I wouldnt be able to stop. Well now, ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Mighty Ducks of lacrosse: Crooked Arrows. Mighty Arrows? Crooked Ducks?
While this movie may not have gotten much attention on the movie scene, it’s actually been on my radar for quite some time. Mainly because it was filmed in the greater Boston area. And it stars our returned Superman, Brandon Routh. For weeks I studied his twitter hoping I may run into him in the city one day. Superman is my hero and I could truly die happy if I were to meet one of our Men of Steel, it really didnt matter to me which Kal-El because I love ’em all.
I actually could have been an extra in one of the big game scenes. I saw a few email announcements go out on a list I’m on and saw a few more go out on Twitter. I can’t remember why exactly I didnt go. I think it was a combination of the timing not being too good and me not having enough money to spend on the Zipcar to drive out to Danvers. Yeah, I was kicking myself thru that whole scene while watching the movie. I really dont know how I let that one slip away from me.
The movie itself turned out to be quite enjoyable, though it took a while to get started. First of all, I know zero about lacrosse (or I did before watching this). I also didnt expect the whole Native American element, so there were a few minutes there where I wondered if I wandered into the wrong auditorium at the Common. But yeah, took a lil while to find its groove. Some of the character relations felt forced, a few of the newer actors took some time to get comfortable on screen, and the set up seemed so cliche. Once things started to pick up, however, I did get really into it. Yeah, we’ve all seen this before and the plot was incredibly predictable, but it had a lot of heart. You really wanted to root for these guys, and everyone in the theater really was. I heard so many audible whoops and claps, to the point where it started to feel like I actually was at a sporting event. You dont get that type of reaction much outside of a midnight show. Especially for this less than full house, quite unexpected.
Okay, so just how much of this movie have we seen before? It has got to be the most blatant Ducks rip off ever.
-Gordon Bombay is a hot shot lawyer, forced to coach a kids hockey team vs Joe Logan a hot shot casino owner, forced to coach a kids lacrosse team.
-Bombay was the former star of the now rival team who missed the final shot in a championship game back in the day vs yeah same back story
-Charlie Conway is the quiet can’t-do-anything-right teammate who is put into some key plays against his will, and he also happens to be the child of the coach’s love interest. Arrows’ had Toby
-Fulton Reed is the misunderstood outsider who the kids are afraid of but he joins the team because he’s a fantastic enforcer. Here he was Maug and the kids thought he was the Sasquatch.
-Goldberg, the chubby comic relief? His counterpart was named Chewy.
-Bad ass chick Connie Moreau who can kick more butt than most of the guys, but especially has the attention of our star player Guy Germaine. We had Nadie, who caught MVP Jimmy’s eye.
-The Hawks kick some Duck pretty badly in their first game, only to face off again in the championships. And the Hawks are the privileged kids. Replace Hawks with snooty prep school Coventry.
-Team name change part way thru the movie as the kids find their deeper connection to the game, check.
-Fun play names. Flying V for the Ducks, and, um, let’s keep this one spoiler free.
The list goes on. But you know what, I didnt care. I was having fun. Oh and for the record, I pulled all of that Ducks data without needing IMDB. I’ve established it’s a favorite and I’ve seen D2 more than any other movie except maybe three.
Crooked Arrows also got me thinking a lot about my experience playing sports in school. These movies always have these great inspirational coaches that form wonderful familial bonds with their kids. Yeeeeah never saw that happen. Basketball was my sport, and I played off and on throughout all of school. I had some good coaches, and I had some bad ones. Not even the good ones were ever half as engaged as you see in this kind of movie. And certainly none of them were ever as gorgeous as Brandon Routh. If so, I think I may have played just a bit more ball.
Crooked Arrows – \m/ \m/ \m/ \n