Crooked Arrows

Joe Logan (Brandon Routh) is a local boy who's trying to make his mark. He wants to negotiate a land deal with a casino owner. In order to make it happen, he must get the agreement from the tribal council. In return he is forced to coach the local Native high school lacrosse team.

Brandon Routh has never been one of my favorite actors. Ever since Superman, I have seen nothing but stiff acting from him. In a way, he's perfect for Superman, but he makes a terrible Clark Kent. He's definitely no Christopher Reeve. I'm willing to accept Brandon's limitation here. It's a workable cliché filled family/sports movie. Chelsea Ricketts plays his plucky sister. While he's the coach, she wants to play. Like many sports movie, the final game is too long and too predictable. But it has enough feel good moments to make this work.

This movie was better than I thought, but its not the best movie about (modern day) Native Americans. Most of the good films are low budget so they are seen by a small audience. This was more mainstream than the others. However it only had a 6 million dollar budget, so that's why the box office didn't go well. They worked well with the budget though.

I didn't hate this movie but its not in my top 20 or anything. I wanted to keep watching but I also wanted more to happen. A few lose ends and missed potential. I also don't see why two white actors (Chelsea Ricketts and Brandon Routh) were playing Native Americans. They had a bunch of other real Native Americans in the film. I wasn't steaming mad but it did bother me. At least some people were really Native American. Everyone acted well.

Its not a movie I would watch with friends but I do suggest watching it. Also I like that Lacrosse was in a movie.

A fun family movie. Based on sports (lacrosse) and a struggle by native Amicans to be competitive at their traditional sport against wealthy mainstream competition. A warm and happy experience. Hard to find this kind of quality in today's entertainment world.

A limited understanding of lacrosse would add to the enjoyment as the struggle to compete against superior competition would become clearer. But not necessary.

The movie gives a positive image of the native Americans way of life in a way that is rarely seen. It purveys inspiration in facing their challenges without the usual blame. The whole package makes it an unusual, entertaining and fun movie to watch.

To the guy who say's it a remake? C'mon... think of all the differences.

• Gordon misses the big shot for real... but Joe misses on purpose - Gordon gives up hockey and becomes a lawyer... Joe gives up LaCrosse and becomes a Casino Manager - Gordon is doing community service... Joe is just pressured into it. - Gordon shows up for the first couple of practices in a suit, talking on his "car phone"... Joe shows up in a suit and talks on his cell phone. - Gordon gets inspiration to turn it around from old hockey store dude.. Joe gets inspiration from old Indian dude. - Gordon gets his boss to sponsor and gets new equipment... Joe buys the new equipment himself. - The Ducks change their name and logo because of sponsorship... the crooked arrows change theirs because they want to. - Gordon recruits the big scary kid from the alley... Joe recruits his from the forest. - Gordon recruits his best player from another team... Joe just has to convince his best player to play. - Gordon takes his kids to a North Star practice for motivation... Joe takes his on a vision quest. - The duck kids fly through the skyway on roller blades... crooked arrow dudes fly through the forest and there is no roller blades involved. - Gordon's love interest with the players mom is new... Joe already had dated the players mom he falls for. - Gordon's falling out with the team involves players leaving... Joe's falling out involves him leaving. - Gordon quits his job for the sake of the team... Joe just screws over a developer. - Gordon's former team they faces in the championship still has his old coach... Joes former team they face in the championship game does not. - Gordon's former team are called "cake-eaters" by his team because they are rich kids... Joe's former team are not called "cake-eaters" even though they are also rich kids. - Gordon's best player gets hurt due to cheap shot in the big game and doesn't come back... Joe's best player gets hurt due to cheap shot and comes back for the final 20 seconds. - Gordon's captain that makes the big shot against his former team that he missed is the son of his love interest... Joe's captain that makes the big shot against his former team that he missed... is "not" the son of his love interest.

The differences are staggering... why one would even see similarity is beyond me.

"Crooked Arrows" is one of those movies that even if you know almost nothing about the sport of Lacrosse you get involved in the game so much so that you might just find yourself yelling at the screen and that is part of "The Formula" that works so very well for movies about sports.

BUT

If you start watching this movie thinking that "The Formula" is all there is to it, get prepared for a BIG Wake-up call.

This movie has managed to twist Native culture, Traditions, History and even Language all together so expertly that you are not only being entertained but being educated at the same time.

Saying that this movie is an emotional roller coaster would be akin to saying that Tecumseh was a great warrior. Both are major understatements.

I'm not going to give anything away here because I really believe that potential viewers should just watch and ENJOY this movie from start to finish without knowing more than what is in the synopsis.

Probably the biggest compliment I can pay the movie is by saying, "I'm Dave Furlotte and I'm a Crooked Arrow."