P. E. I.. Family trauma. Adultery. Folk music. Hockey. Did I mention P. E. I.?
Jordie is a hulking, awkward hockey player returning home as somewhat of a local legend with what appears to be a tail between his legs. There is a mysterious dark past, and plenty of tension, amplified by the crowded circumstance. Small town? Howsabout small island? There is no escaping the past. Many will require nothing more. This is your wheelhouse. Good for you. Sadly, for those willing to remove rose coloured islander glasses, this is not a great viewing experience.
Stark realism is great if it ain't clunky, and damn, this is clunky. Unspoken secrets only work if some loose lips let slip, otherwise there is but conjecture and eventually, ambivalence. When sibling matters come to a lobster boil, the drama is pretty anti-climactic. A fishing boat scene, which should be life and death serious, plays embarrassingly tepid. The brothers do come to inevitable blows, and it is on the ice (get it: "Still the Water"), but they are on the same team. Yes the same team. Needless to say, any hockey aficionado will have a problem or twelve with the shinny sequences. The footage is akin to a beer league scenario, not from supposed Memorial Cup skaters. This is John Candy as Darryl Sittler silly, except it ain't played for laughs. Who throws down their stick (several times, this is Jordy's go to move) when mad? No one. No one does. The stilted and perplexing road hockey scenes on bumpy dirt roads are excruciatingly awful. Was there not a hockey player available as consultant? Maybe a seven year old with a rudimentary knowledge of the sport? C'mon!
As a wrinkled cherry on a collapsing cake, the big finale happens at centre ice in a darkened, empty arena, because that is where everyone hangs out when they look for redemption. Sports clichés are back baby!
Is the film this bad? Perhaps not. The music is fine. The scenery lovely. It does capture that odd islander vibe. Perhaps anyone not privy to the nuances of hockey will squeeze some sort of entertainment from this picture. Stranger things have happened.
