Men With Brooms
Added 10/24/2009
This is a great movie about curling and relationships. I am not a curling fan; but I thought the filming of the curling action was exceptional. The movie was funny and very entertaining. I also loved the outtakes at the end of the film.
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Fun and human, but don't look for anything too serious
Added 5/19/2009
I really like this movie, but I don't know if it's for everyone. It is a "sports" movie, but the sport is really a page upon which to draw the human drama. It's about realizing what is really important and being able to look yourself in the mirror... but I wouldn't watch it if that was all that it was. I am easily bored with drama, and don't want to waste my limited free time being upset about the problems of imaginary people. If I am going to watch a movie, I want to me ENTERTAINED. This movie paints the human aspects with broad strokes of the absurd, and unexpected moments of clarity. Beware that it has its fair share of bad language, and the quest for offspring leads to a number of scenes that people a generation older than me (Boomers +) would surely feel were in poor taste, but it is always done tongue-in-cheek with what I feel is an awareness of the overall hilarity of the human condition. To sum it all up, I'd say it was funny, and ... sweet.
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If only we could choose no stars
Added 1/19/2009
This is one of the worst movies ever made. I love Paul Gross, but his ego is too big even for the vast expanse of the Canadian north, and this is essentially his big ego party, with all his favorite people playing on that for him. Molly Parker, from Deadwood, is wasted here, and she usually brings a quality to anything she's in. It's filled with Gross's obsession with scatalogical "humor," really bad slapstick "comedy," and generally makes Canadians look very bad indeed. When Molly Parker's character says "I'd rather s*** in my mouth" in response to a fairly benign question, I knew I was in for a bad time.
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Curling rules!
Added 1/3/2008
If you're looking for a fun movie, this is the one for you - Leslie Nielsen is hysterical along with the rest of the boys in this faboo Canadian movie!
the only caveat I would give is that it's not for the little ones - there's a slew of sexual references and situations that might make it a bit risque for kids - but the curling shots are great!
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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"It's not the size of the army, it's the fury of its onslaught."
Added 10/13/2007
Let me tell you, nothing gets me up like the sport of curling. I go nuts with the foam finger and the thunder stick whenever I tune in to a curling match. Just watching the 42-pound granite stone wending its way down the ice sheet, its course being affected by brooms, in an effort to get into the house and as close as it can to the button, well, it's just something that's fraught with intensity and poetry.
Okay, so I don't know what I'm talking about. Before this film, I knew nothing about curling. When I popped MEN WITH BROOMS in the dvd player, I was expecting something along the lines of Dodgeball - A True Underdog Story (Unrated Edition) or Balls of Fury since I figured curling to be as equally ignored and trivialized as dodgeball and table tennis are in these parts and would probably be also only televised on ESPN the Ocho. I did have a notion that MEN WITH BROOMS would be more clever and would resonate more. And it was, and it did. MEN WITH BROOMS is a winning Canadian picture, bolstered by a fine cast of Canadian actors, a sensitive yet hilarious story, and featuring as its centerpiece a sport which actually becomes interesting within the film's context, although I doubt I'll be going out of my way to cheer on this event in the Olympics.
The death of a kindly curling coach reunites his four messed-up proteges, including that sunuvacanadian Chris Cutter (Paul Gross). Chris, a gifted skip (curling team captain & strategist), had ten years ago abandoned his sport, his teammates, his tiny town of Long Bay, and his girlfriend, who happens to be Coach Foley's daughter and now an astronaut. The coach's last wish was for his remnants to be cremated and placed in a curling stone, and that stone be used to win the local curling tournament and regain the Golden Broom trophy. The rest of the film shows how Chris and his teammates (a drug dealer, a mortician, and a husband with a low sperm count) try to get their act together and do the dead guy proud. Also, there are beavers.
I've come to believe that whenever Paul Gross is involved in a project, that project instantly becomes credible and something worth experiencing. Due South: Season One (4-DVD Digipack) and Slings & Arrows - Season 1 are two fine examples. I'm not sure how many people know of Paul Gross, but he's big and very bankable in maple leaf territory. And he's got large talent. Gross wears several hats in MEN WITH BROOMS. Here he acts, he writes, and he directs. He does all these well.
The picture enlists the services of striking actress Molly Parker and Gross's buddy Leslie Nielsen (of NAKED GUN fame and who guest-starred a bunch of times in DUE SOUTH), and they're invaluable. Molly soulfully plays Amy, the sister of Chris's ex-girlfriend, who for years has been secretly in love with Chris. Nielsen strays from typecasting and takes on the dark, ornery role of Chris's estranged dad and new coach. Basically, the cast is Canadian and therefore funny. The actors playing Chris's teammates are lovable and off the wall, from the clueless Eddie, to the henpecked Neil, to the shameless bon vivant Lennox. I also laughed at some of the stuff spouted by the game announcer amidst his beer-swilling ("That shot was impossible once - so, to do it again, mathematically, it's gotta be...twice as impossible!"). There were moments when I thought I was listening to Bob Eucker in MAJOR LEAGUE. Also worth a heads up: Canadian group The Tragically Hip provides two new songs, as well as a cameo appearance.
What is curling? I could say it resembles the game of shuffleboard, but then people might ask, "Well, and what's shuffleboard?" I've since learned that curling is also called the roaring game (nicknamed so for the sound the stone makes as it travels the breadth of the ice). The game possibly originates from Scotland in the 16th century (although that's all up for debate). The brooms? The sweeping of the brooms causes friction and heating on ice which helps to determine the stone's direction and speed. And regarding the rules and complexities of the game, I quote from the film: "Each team has 8 rocks. Each guy throws two. When all the rocks are thrown, whoever has their rock closest to the button, that team gets the points." See, simple (But, here we go again: "What's a button?"). Anyway, don't let the unfamiliar terminology or the initial inexplicability of curling stop you from watching this one. The movie does a good job of filling you in enough so that you can sit back and relax.
The bonus extras? Not much here. There's a 4 and a half minute interview with Paul Gross (in which he doesn't talk about this film but does go into what made him want to be an actor and he also touches on Due South), a 5 minute featurette, and the theatrical trailer. Also, there are outtakes during the end credits.
I might make fun of curling, but the film doesn't make the error of doing the same. MEN IN BROOMS is never less than sincere and affectionate in its treatment of the sport, which is wise because, apparently, Canadians are excellent curlers. I think this film is worth 4 stars: one, because it has Paul Gross; two, because I love underdog sports cinema; and three, because MEN WITH BROOMS is well-done, funny, quirky, and touching.
Now, if only there's a good sports film out there about shuffleboard.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Men With Brooms
Added 10/24/2009
This is a great movie about curling and relationships. I am not a curling fan; but I thought the filming of the curling action was exceptional. The movie was funny and very entertaining. I also loved the outtakes at the end of the film.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Fun and human, but don't look for anything too serious
Added 5/19/2009
I really like this movie, but I don't know if it's for everyone. It is a "sports" movie, but the sport is really a page upon which to draw the human drama. It's about realizing what is really important and being able to look yourself in the mirror... but I wouldn't watch it if that was all that it was. I am easily bored with drama, and don't want to waste my limited free time being upset about the problems of imaginary people. If I am going to watch a movie, I want to me ENTERTAINED. This movie paints the human aspects with broad strokes of the absurd, and unexpected moments of clarity. Beware that it has its fair share of bad language, and the quest for offspring leads to a number of scenes that people a generation older than me (Boomers +) would surely feel were in poor taste, but it is always done tongue-in-cheek with what I feel is an awareness of the overall hilarity of the human condition. To sum it all up, I'd say it was funny, and ... sweet.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
If only we could choose no stars
Added 1/19/2009
This is one of the worst movies ever made. I love Paul Gross, but his ego is too big even for the vast expanse of the Canadian north, and this is essentially his big ego party, with all his favorite people playing on that for him. Molly Parker, from Deadwood, is wasted here, and she usually brings a quality to anything she's in. It's filled with Gross's obsession with scatalogical "humor," really bad slapstick "comedy," and generally makes Canadians look very bad indeed. When Molly Parker's character says "I'd rather s*** in my mouth" in response to a fairly benign question, I knew I was in for a bad time.
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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