I enjoyed this film. It, as others have said, had great heart. The many important subplots of the film were played out very convincingly by a fine group of actors. But the issues and how they came to be were only skimmed over leaving you wanting to delve further - know more. The fairly realistic ending would have had a much bigger impact if we could have felt closer to the characters. This great little story could have really hit the spot with a closer look via a good long book.
'Sentiment: Positive 🙂'
I was drawn to this movie because I love hockey and Russell Crowe. Both are seen to good advantage in this sweet movie. I thought it dragged in parts and some of the drama is forced, but overall it was a enjoyable movie and I had a good time watching it. It has a terrific cast - any movie with Chaykin, Meaney, Ivey and Davidovitch as your supporting cast has a lot going for it right there.
'Sentiment: Positive 🙂'
I had no idea at the time that I would enjoy a movie about hockey, and I was right, because this movie had nothing really to do with hockey.It's a great character based movie about a small town that makes it big and the reason the town makes it big is because of it's people. It's a great rocky type movie that makes you root for a small town and it's wonderful characters. Russell Crowe is excellent as well as the entire cast and a great turn by Burt Reynolds as the town judge and coach. This is a very well crafted, witty , warm and realistic and just a charming movie overall. Don't let the hockey fool you, this is a movie about people and a quite enjoyable movie I may add.