Men with Brooms

This movie had the potential to be interesting and fun by tackling a little known Scottish sport in a Canadian locale. Instead the writer, Paul Gross, chose to take the easy way out and went for every sports cliche in movie history. From the unrequited love (this lucky fellas has two!) to the see-it-coming-from-a-mile-away win you can pretty much predict what each new scene is going to bring. I was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt... up until they threw in the very tired slow-mo silhouette walking with some rock song as it's background. on top of that writer/director's Paul Gross' acting was mediocore at best.

All this being said the movie is watchable simply as the kind of movie where the underdogs win. It could have been better, though...

Genial, intermittently amusing comedy about curling. I never knew what curling was, and it's sort of an interesting shuffleboard/billiards kind of game and I'm glad to have learned something about it, but outside of that this movie is so slight that in spite of it's easygoing charm I never felt more than a passing interest in the character's lives. Watchable but forgettable.

OK, so this was not exactly high art. But let's be realistic, it is a movie with Paul Gross and Leslie Nielson in it. I was not expecting the English patient.... What was here was a good little comedy movie that poked fun at a lot of Canadian idiosyncrasies, had realistic characters and had a bit of fun with a known Canadian (and international) sport. It was nice that most of the characters had some sort of flaw, but still managed to sort things out and overcome. Better yet, it was nice to see Leslie Nielson actually act in a movie with a character who had depth instead of his normal two dimensional slapstick characters. Mostly, I enjoyed this movie because it was not a complete cast of perfect people, and it did have fun with a lot of Canadian stereotypes. It is always good when we can laugh at ourselves. Like I said, not high art but that was not what we were looking for.

The negative reviews point out that the film is cliched. Most comedy these days can be accused of that. What pulls this film up for me is the characters. I live in a small town and recognize these characters as my neighbors. More over, although they are flawed, the residents are treated with respect and love. I think this film nailed the experience of closeness in a village. I also enjoyed watching curling. Who knew the sport was performed with such precision and grace. Probably not the best film for city loving flat landers. It did make me laugh and gave me a buzz of happiness.

This is the kind of flick you watch when you don't want to think too hard but you still want some intelligent humour and a good story. Some jokes are hidden in sarcasm, satire or poignancy, and you might miss them, so it's worth paying attention. The style of this movie's humour may have been a bit before its time, as it resembles currently popular TV shows like Scrubs, The Office and Psych. Even the many colourful characters, including bit-parts, are very believable in today's small-town culture. Do not miss the beginning or the rest wont hold together. Although it lags a bit in the middle, it still satisfies because there's enough variety along the way, that the ending isn't quite as nauseating as you might fear. The soundtrack is excellent and the out-takes at the end wrap it well. For Paul Gross fans, pay attention to his facial expressions - he's more animated compared to many of his other roles.