Maurice Richard

This was an excellent movie. It will definitely be collecting quite a few rewards. If you're a hockey fan, you'll love it. If you're a movie fan, you should see it. If you're a Canadian, this is your history on film. I'm tired of constantly hearing people grumble about the state of Canadian cinema ("not enough money blah blah blah"). Well this is a great Canadian movie that stands up, so go see it and support it. This is one of those great films everyone's been saying they wanted.. It's about one of the greatest hockey players ever, and it's one of the greatest hockey movies ever. There is a lot of history in this film and it looks gorgeous. Roy Dupuis is excellent. One thing I did wonder, however, is why there is nothing about Henri Richard in it.

In one of the comments on the film, the writer asks why there's no mention of Henri Richard, the "Pocket Rocket." The film really takes us up to it's climax, the Richard Riot, and Henri, fifteen years younger than Maurice, was starring with the Junior Canadians. Although he came up to play with his brother in the last years of Maurice's career, Henri was not on the team for the period covered by this film. The line of Henri at centre, Dickie Moore on left wing, and Maurice on right wing was called by the Rocket's great rival, Gordie Howe, the best line he ever played against. In a sense the movie stops at the point when Richard was the most popular player in Québec, that is before he became the greatest star in the rest of Canada too. When he received the Stanley Cup in Toronto after the Canadians swept the Leafs in four games straight to win their fifth championship in a row, everybody sensed it could be his last game, and he received a standing ovation in Maple Leaf Gardens, a rare honour for any visiting player, especially when he'd been throughout his career the Leafs' greatest rival. The film beautifully evokes the period when players were ordinary guys working for a living. The clothing and lighting are magnificent in capturing the feel of the forties and fifties, and the hockey sequences are amazing in that, having seen the Rocket play so many times, I lost sight that it was Roy Dupuis, not the Rocket, on the screen. And the sequence in which he kayos Bob Dill (Sean Avery in a piece of type casting if there ever was one!) is a dandy. That happened in New York and the Daily News, the tabloid famous for its great headlines, featured a full-page image of the Rocket standing over his fallen rival with a huge headline, "DILL PICKLED". I wish they'd put that in the film. Richard had a unique skating style and was unusual in those days because there were few left-hand shots playing right wing. And they were able to recreate one of the greatest goals in detail when the Rocket, after being knocked out by Boston's Leo Labine in the play-offs, returned in overtime and went end to end to score the winning goal against "Sugar Jim" Henry. Dupuis and the film magicians capture Richard's swooping, darting style beautifully. Richard may not have been the best player who ever played, but he was the greatest star the game will ever see. See this film and you'll be as close to seeing the real Rocket as it's possible to be.

I have been a hockey fan for almost 40 years and have collected almost every dramatic film ever made about the sport. But, I'd have to say that "The Rocket" is far and away, the best one ever made. The cinematography is stunning, the acting spellbinding and the story gripping. It tells the story of a simple and tortured man who drives himself to excel at the sport he loves. It leads him to become the reluctant hero of French-Canadian culture, self-perceived as being held back and oppressed by the anglophones.

Roy Dupuis, who portrayed Maurice in no less than two other cinematic projects, perfectly captures the fire and intensity of the man in a most fitting, if not THE crowning tribute, to the legend of Maurice "The Rocket" Richard. Biname goes to great lengths to duplicate the look and feel of the late-30s, on into the mid-50s and certainly captures the collective agony and anger of early-to-mid 20th century French Canada.

Julie LeBreton is beautiful and amazing as Richard's wife, Lucille. Notable also are the cameo appearances made by NHLers Sean Avery (Bob Dill), Vincent Lecavalier (Jean Beliveau); Mike Ricci (Elmer Lach), Ian Laperierre (Boom Boom Geoffrion) and Stephane Quintal (Dollard St. Laurent). What "Slap Shot" proved, "The Rocket" confirms. Pro hockey players are damn good actors!

I realize funding for this movie was brought up in the infamous "Sponsorship Scandal" that dissolved former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin's Liberal government in 2006, but you can't fault it at any level. It was worth every cent used to make it and it will be hard for Canadian cinema to duplicate this level of quality ever again.

Roy Dupuis stars as "The Rocket" Maurice Richard in this epic hockey film. It is one of the best hockey movies I have ever seen, even better than Miracle. It doesn't matter if it's in French or if you don't even know who Maurice Richard was. You will get to know him during this film and want to know even more once the film has ended. It's an inspiring tale of one man overcoming hardships to prevail and show everyone how wrong they all were. 1950's hockey is portrayed with a gritty reality. Some of the most intense hockey fighting appears throughout this film. Dupuis really shines in Richard's relationship with his coach and his wife. Whether, you're a hockey fan or not, this movie is a must see.

This is a true biopic, depicting events that could be considered as corner stones of NHL's History as well as Hockey History. it exposes the life of the Rocket since he was a teenager. All facts are historical : the depression just before WW2, the social divisions (as those cages that surrounded an area reserved for francophones in the Forum). Most dialogs in hockey scenes are in English, as well as all those involving the team, coaches and so on, which is "by respect of historical facts" in the original french version. Actually, many dialogs are recreated as they took place (and can be verified in many biography about The Rocket), even the coach's (Irvin) "pep talks". Hockey scenes are true to reality, as the scenarios were matched with game descriptions and old clips, were reviewed by Richard himself before dying and also his wife, his children, as by Irvin sun's written and recorded testimonies and memories from his father (he was the first Mr. "Hockey Night in Canada" on CBC), reporters, and so on.

About the cast, my discovery is STEPHEN McHATTIE! HE IS JUST SUPERB IN IRVIN'S ROLE. Now that's a coach!! WOW. Actually the most credible I've seen in all sports movies around. Some of you who don't know about the Rocket, could find in Roy Dupuis some kind of weird acting... But actually, he played his role to the perfection, magnificently displaying the same kind of personality and behavior the Rocket had (he had the chance to study the guy's "attitude" in person for several years). The movie also adds historical drama, like the year when the Rocket broke Malone's record, a record that most considered as impossible to surpass, and which brought some sense of Victory to the people, just month before D-Day in Normandy (feb. 1945).

What you'll see in this movie, is what made such a man a true Canadian Hero, as it really was and took place during those days. It is also a true love story, about the couple Richard.