Perfectly Normal

If you like slow, stylish, cynically heart-warming humor...this movie is for you. This isn't sleepless in seattle or when harry met sally. This is a brilliantly conceived, written, directed and acted masterpiece that exalts the multifaceted idiosyncrasies of the great white north, combining it with a deft touch of the quieter side of British humor.

It combines my love of humor, hockey and music in a tale of romance and transformation that is smart, rather than sickly sweet.

Kenneth Walsh is great as the no-holds-barred coach that will fake cancer to motivate his team. Michael Riley gives a performance even more subdued and complex than Bud Cort in Harold and Maude. And Robbie Coltrane is a hugely under-appreciated comic talent - the John Candy of Great Britain.

I seldom gush over a movie...but this one hit the spot.

This movie is brilliant.

If you like thoughtfully paced humor in the vein of Bill Forsythe (Comfort and Joy) this movie is for you. Great cast, great screen play...and deft humor.

It is the story of Renzo Parachi (Michael Riley), who leads a dull and quite life...and likes it that way. He works at the local brewery's bottling plant and plays goalie for the company hockey team. He also drives a cab at night, where he picks up a fare who will change his life - Robbie Coltrane as Alonzo Turner.

Within minutes Alonzo has insinuated himself into Renzo's life...and suddenly this quiet, unassuming man discovers that everyone wants something from him. His boss at the factory will do anything to transform the hockey team into winners...the girl at the ice rink will do anything for his chastity...and Lonzo will stop at nothing to get what he wants.

A move not to be missed. Unfortunately, and criminally, it is not available on DVD in the U.S. Yet Ishtar is. Go figure.

Yves Simoneau uses the stereotypes of Canada, the beer factory, the hockey rink, the snow-covered wilderness, as his setting to examine its relationship with its bombastic neighbor to the south. But instead of a heavy geopolitical study it's actually a hoot. He throws in opera and cross-dressing for fun, and Robbie Coltrane gives a fabulous performance that almost steals the show. Yet the entire cast hits their notes well, with the smaller parts especially shining. Beautifully shot, it's a gem of a film.

This wonderful comedy deserves to be widely viewed; very funny, and one of the few films ever to film hockey the way those who love it really experience it. Few films have ever better represented upper Canadian humour. Riley and Coltrane have a wonderful chemistry, and the one-liners are side-splitting. Kenneth Walsh as the putatively dying coach is classic. Contrary to the LES BOYS films, this movie actually captures the look and feel of beer-league hockey. It also deals very funnily with the stress of working on the line (in this case at a beer-bottling plant), of the difficulty of dealing with assembly line production that just keeps on coming. I would recommend this film to anyone!

TB

Renzo Parachi (Michael Riley) is a quiet introvert working at the brewery under Charlie Glesby who coaches the employees in an amateur hockey league where Renzo is the goalie. He is alone after the death of his mother. He drives his father's cab during his off hours. One night, he picks up Alonzo Turner (Robbie Coltrane) in the cab and is forced to bring home the passed-out talkative drunk. He rents out his mother's room to Alonzo for the money to build his dream house. Denise works at the rink and is taken with the quiet goalie. Alonzo decides to start a lavish Italian restaurant with money found in Renzo's mother's record collection. He convinces Renzo to be the cross-dressing opera-singing headliner.

I didn't laugh. This quirky Canadian indie has a lot weird little touches. I like the characters. I love Coltrane and Riley. I simply didn't laugh. It's an odd little film and some of it is quite memorable. Riley doesn't fit the quiet type and Coltrane could be much funnier. The writing needs actual jokes. It's quirky without being funny. Some may enjoy it for some light fun. I'm somewhat blah about this.