People are voting emotionally.

Great Film overall

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Score: A Hockey Musical (2010): Dir: Michael McGowan / Cast: Noah Reid, Allie MacDonald, Marc Jordan, Olivia Newton-John, Stephen McHattie: Corny yet ambitious musical about not just scoring within the game of hockey, but also scoring in life itself. Noah Reid plays the newest hockey sensation whose position as a passive aggressive is put to the test. His parents brought him up to be uncompetitive but when recruited everything is tested. Director Michael McGowan succeeds largely because the theme of violence in sports is heavy. He takes a risk with this theme in terms of the gender image associated with the sport. The musical numbers are mostly lame but given an edge due too quirky visual elements and locations. Noah Reid does well with the material. He deals with his upbringing as well as his relationship with the girl next door plus the whole rule system of the sport. His handling of violence after being shamed on the ice is effective yet again, somewhat corny. Allie MacDonald plays the girl next door whom has been his friend since childhood. She plays the cello with an Italian instructor. Unfortunately Reid cannot see what viewers, and MacDonald already know. Marc Jordan and Olivia Newton-John play his overbearing religious parents. The two are too weird to take seriously. Jordan has bright glasses that do not compliment him, and although it is nice to hear Newton-John sing, she is hardly doing Grease here. What works is a strong message of fair competition and the ability to score above it all with the ever powerful embrace of a hug. Score: 7 / 10

Funded in part by the Canadian government film funding agency Telefilm Canada (which usually has no clue as to what movies would appeal to a mass audience), "Score: A Hockey Musical" was one of the few Canadian movies to get a theatrical release in Canada as large as a Hollywood movie. It was a disaster at the box office, no doubt because of the obvious fact that the premise - a hockey musical - sounded so stupid. So the movie instantly had one strike against it. But after watching the movie, more problems are evident, including:(1) The central figure of the movie, the sheltered teenager who becomes a big hockey star overnight, is a really bland and colorless individual. In fact, ALL the characters in this movie are shallow.(2) The central story of the movie is just a bunch of clichés we have seen countless times before, like the hero's female "best friend" who has a crush on him but he doesn't realize it etc. etc. etc.(3) The songs. ALL of the songs sound completely alike! That's bad enough, but what makes them even worse are the lyrics that sound like they were the first thing that popped into the songwriters' minds instead of being carefully polished, the awkward way the singers jam in extra words in a desperate attempt to say everything they want, plus the fact that none of the cast (except for Olivia Newton-John) is able to sing.(4) The cinematography. A light-hearted musical should be bright and colorful. Not this movie - it has the Canadian trademark of photography that is dark and murky.Maybe this would have worked as a two minute coming attractions spoof done for a sketch comedy TV show. But as a feature film, it is deadly. I'm glad I didn't pay to see this movie!

i had to watch this movie. of course i had to. it looked like the most ridiculous film of all time. and you know what? it was. i can't decide if i enjoyed this movie or not. well, no, i didn't enjoy this movie. i have trouble imagining how anyone could. but i did, somewhat, enjoy the experience of watching it. every time i thought it couldn't get sillier, it did. for the entire duration, i had this sad smile on my face, shaking my head and thinking "this is what we opened the TIFF with... no wonder nobody takes Canadian cinema seriously".its just so awful in every way. it makes me sad that people like hawksley workman and george stroumbolopolous had anything to do with it.ah well. it was a hockey musical. could it possibly have been good? i don't think so.

I've read a lot of reviews of this film out of its debut at TIFF, most of them negative, contrasting the film with the normal festival fare. And comparatively, no it's not an art house film, deeply layered, full of subtext or sparking deep thought later.I, however, wasn't expecting that. I was expecting a fun, corny musical about our nation's favourite past-time and that's exactly what I got. It's sweet, it made me laugh aloud several times, and I simply had a very good time watching the film.Noah Reid played the very likable male lead, Farley. He has a pleasant voice, looked natural on the ice, and nothing in his performance felt forced or fake. I hope to see him again. The best word I can think of to describe Allie MacDonald's girl-next-door character of Eve is winsome. I forgot that Stephen McHattie has done comedy before, so his turn as the owner of a pro-hockey team was surprising in how deft it is. Also enjoyable were Farley's coach and teammates, and George Stroumboulopoulos as the rink announcer.Really, the only weak link in performance was Olivia Newton-John who seemed too stiff for the character that she was portraying. And despite how great they were individually, there wasn't a lot of chemistry between Farley and Eve.The songs ran about fifty-fifty. Some were catchy and well-orchestrated. Some felt as though they had been written for an amateur musical.All-in-all, I think the movie gives you exactly what you expect when you go to see a movie called "Score: A Hockey Musical". It's enjoyable, and charming, and I would recommend it to musical and hockey fans alike.