Men With Brooms Review

Directed By: Paul Gross.
Starring: Paul Gross, Leslie Nielsen, Kari Matchett, Molly Parker, Michelle Nolden.

Synopsis: Four old friends dust off their neglected brooms and sweep the past behind them on the road to realizing their late coach's dream of the big curling trophy.

Being a Canuck I have been furious at the Canadian film industry for years...not at the Quebec film industry, they seem to have a clue as to what's going on and support the films they make...but the English side of the Canadian film industry. Canada is known the world over for some of the Canadian Comedians we have churned out...but where do they make their name? Usually in the U.S., having to leave behind the Great White North for trues success.

Don't believe me? We can go back as far as Mack Sennett and his bathing beauties, back almost to the beginning of film as an industry to prove that point.

Finally, these last few years we are seeing some steps in the right direction. There was the (bound-to-be) cult classic Ginger Snaps and now this charming little crowd pleaser Men With Brooms jam-packed with every sporting cliche it could find, and creating a few more just to have it overstuffed!

Is it a great movie? No, but it is not the bleak and depressing material our film industry is often recognized for. Now I'm not hacking fimmakers like Egoyan and Cronenberg or Podeswa...but I do think they could lighten up every once in awhile. Actually, Cronenberg accepted...his light manner is probably still very dark.

As for being a Canadian film, I don't see how it can be seen as anything but. They cheerfully revel in Canadiana...from opening shots of Beavers chewing at trees while Land of the Silver Birch plays, to Tim Horton's coffee cups, a jazzed up version of Oh, Canada! pumping up for the big game and even a cameo by The Tragically Hip (Oddly, I'm Canadian and not a fan of the group but we won't go into that here.)

As much as I praise Paul Gross for some of the choices he made here there were some equally disturbing ones here...almost mean choices. A joke between him and his ex-girlfriend turned astronaut after they make up falls flat...(joking about space shuttles blowing up is never the way to say goodbye to someone embarking on a space mission). As well as some 'serious' moments between Chris Cutter (Paul Gross) and his father (Leslie Nielsen) seem forced and almost bog the film down.

Fortunately the script jumps along relatively quickly and these moments can be forgiven as the surrounding cast bring the level of humour back up pretty quickly. Polly Shannon, Peter Outerbridge, James Allodi and most of all Jed Rees get some very fun little moments of their own as each have a small sub-story that is dealt with.

From the opening sequences where their old coach dies and his last will and testament is read, giving them his ashes in a curling rock, to the final curling showdown against the evil Americans from Butte Montana...this is just a silly, fun, little movie...and perhaps the another step in the right direction of Canadian film making.

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Copyright© Written By: Rob Paul

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